film is next and christine one at one to seven on to set and watch and see you next time. i. hear what's coming up for the book obviously you have plenty to talk about if you want to go beyond that it's hard to take a look a little bit means for the title of course. the band is legal every weekend here on w.

it is. carol the first as the patriarch of moscow and all russia he is more than a spiritual leader he embodies a religious entity that with its reach and influence will to power barely perceived in the west the power of the russian orthodox church. and the church set on an expansion course even abroad like here in paris and twenty sixteen at the consecration of a new orthodox cathedral. as head of the russian orthodox church carol mingles with the mighty on the world stage with former u.s. president barack obama pope francis chinese president xi jinping. syria's bashar al assad and of course. the russian leader vladimir putin. the

president and the patriarch are demonstrative little house allies two leaders united in their efforts to forge a new and ultra conservative russian identity. two leaders who share the same vision despite occasional differences in opinion. as a new act on the international stage the russian church is asserting itself farsi on both the spiritual and the political front. carol who for russians is the equivalent of the pope and a man hard to gain access to allowed our cameras to follow him for almost an entire year.

in the thirty years since the fall of communism moscow has shaken off its salvia era drab and emerged as a city glinting this golden. nearly fifty churches have been built since twenty ten and there are plans for almost as many more. the russian orthodox patriarch it also has its seats in the capitol. behind these gates as center of soft power closely allied to russia's political leadership. the monastery watched over by a few cars that god's harbors a mysterious and seemingly impervious institution. a universe of its own in which carroll presides over thirty six thousand parishes and more than one hundred million followers.

carol begins every morning with a prayer and a mass in church slavonic the liturgical language she is but it also talks church in russia was. that. it was. everything here reflects the eastern heritage of christianity the legacy of constantinople where the patriarch was practically the emperor's equal. if you look if you're like. the moscow patriarchate has existed for five centuries fifteen patriarchs headed it before carroll who was elected in two thousand and nine ever since he's had his sights set on one go. in the given your own wants to turn the russian church into a universal polity the image in his mind is the power of the roman catholic church

is a church that functions and whose powerful representatives operate around the world will never judge his influence is felt in all spheres of life in politics and society but also obviously internationally in other words a church with a truly global reach i just put it to. you at his muscular residence carroll makes it clear that he does not see his role confined to that of a spiritual leader. in a. sometimes i'm criticized for being too vocal in my position as patriarch they should but i don't see any other option. in this secular day and age. that the religious figure a bishop and above all a patriarch. must be in the position to represent the church or christianity in

a dialogue with any individual regardless of whether their heads of state are representatives from the area of politics business culture and so what if that is so this is their. choice or if you think. today the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas is visiting the patriarch the two have met on numerous previous occasions. pleasure that was interesting to see if you look at them we are very concerned about the situation in the middle east including syria and iraq terrorism has not been eradicated and so the danger of terrorist activity in the middle east is still very real which obviously worries us in a position of us but you remove it if enough people know what. you thought of naturally we know that many people have fallen victim to the terrorist

tactics of groups like islamic state. we stand side by side with all nations who want security and freedom especially russia to fight these extremists. following these penalize introductory remarks the two sides retreat for closed door talks. two days city of the palestinian delegation had met with law to me uprooting . the talks were taking place shortly after president donald trump. announced the u.s. would relocate its israeli embassy to jerusalem. and palestinians look to moscow for support from the kremlin and the patriarch it's. only politics. saw through if you want to protect it so you want to protect the peace of the whole of the church play

a political role but there is only one puzzle point and you can talk is only with the by the powerful vatican he can talk with there but. we need him and we need the support we need. for. that. but would like to get it got secret deal with order which is very clear to put them out there are that we're fortunate very good should be ok then i would look at how was i live that is are not your you're about to hear. when meeting muslims are kirill is not only playing the role of church leader he's also a negotiator there are many russian orthodox and christian palestinians for patriarch kirill russia's presence in the region is vital for the for the protection of christians in the middle east has also a horse. to ground. zero i see.

another place central to carol's duties in moscow is the cathedral of christ the savior converted into a swimming pool in the soviet era it was restored after nine hundred ninety five and is today a symbol of russia's religious renaissance. carol is not here to read mass. in the cathedral subterranean chambers he meets some of russia's most powerful men . and then from paintings in this circle. the speaker of the duma the russian parliament the first deputy chief of staff of the presidential executive office and the head of the constitutional court.

at the patriots invitation they are attending the world russian peoples council. the annual forum was founded by carroll in one nine hundred ninety three two years after the collapse of the soviet union. its aim to foster unity in the nation with the church at its core. feel in the whole of the clergy sits next to members of the military and representatives of nationalist groups but more importantly alongside representatives from keeping their sickle parties including pitons united russia as well as members of the far right and even the communist party. i see a little more across the world russian peoples council is a perfect fit for this man's agenda and illustrates the way he sees his role and

the role of the church at the which. leads it so that the boards really views the church as a core around which to rally the entire russian people including the political elite. salame staunchest. british kalitta. this time the council's theme is russia in the twenty first century. society is threatened by the same problems and challenges as the family the excesses of the juvenile justice system same sex marriage the inroads. transhumanism it's all attempts to distort the nature of human existence. i. i. the political forum where everyone sings the russian national anthem united in shared ultraconservative that. i. in the

centuries before the revolution the church played a dominant role in defining russian spiritual and cultural identity. alongside the zone the patriarch was one of the most powerful men in russia. all sorts them even though it's a condition of the chasm in fact that this comes so was founded is indicative of carol's position as one of russia's leading political figures but if you just get a few good rest if you look at unofficial lists of russia's most influential figures it's no coincidence that he's always in the top ten. sudanese business law that the most for your state this is sam lee is also tremendously important. it gives it political legitimacy is. of going to get in must see. today that church lends the

government an air of respectability in return the government has helped the church restore much of its lost ground it's a strange reversal of history in a country that some seven decades ago so to stamp out religion. between nine hundred seventeen and nine hundred thirty nine the russian orthodox church faced three waves of persecution the clergy was high on the list of enemies of the revolution. churches would destroy it and who do you tip. in nine hundred twenty nine the practice and spread of religion became a crime members of the clergy was stripped of their civil rights many were arrested and deported to labor camps. by nine hundred thirty nine almost all of the churches

that existed before the revolution were either closed or destroyed. kerala is determined to ensure this chapter of russian history is not forgotten and . every year he visits the sort of it's the islands. this is occupied ago in northern russia essential to also docks efforts to ensure subject repression is never forgotten. that. this is. a centuries old monastery on the islands was incorporated into the bolsheviks first concentration camps a test site for the soviet penal system that served as a blueprint for the lax a symbol of religious repression. eighty thousand prisoners were sent to this

camp about a third perished inside its walls. the. digital version of it is true remembering the repression is a personal priority for the patriarch his grandfather was imprisoned in this very monastery because he was a priest. in. the summer shortly before i was there said fear nothing in this world fear only guard and. put my faith in the world to this man who spent more than twenty years in prisons and camps no worldly power has absolute control over humankind in this way we learned we couldn't resist even the most powerful authority and still maintain our inner freedom with. sergei chip mean is an expert on the russian orthodox church. a former associate of carols he's

a moderate critical voice in orthodox circles he once ran the official journal of the moscow patriarchate. c m a pro hope it will cost the fame of persecution is a recurring leitmotif in patriarchial speeches in the new book and it's important to him to emphasize that it's not just part of the history of the country the people or the church but also part of his own family history. this history of persecution is also patriarchy personal history but the. version of guy need a church as a survivor of the persecution is a very important and mobilizing symbol used to call on russians to return to the fold of young if your notes of turkey. in the one nine hundred sixty s. anyone who became a priest knew they'd be ostracized from soviet society still it's the path carroll chose like his father and grandfather before him. he entered the seminary in the

one nine hundred sixty five six years later his superiors sent him to the geneva assembly of the world council of churches in this is. a kind of christian united nations promoting pacifism and religious diplomacy he learned the ins and outs of international relations under the tide control of the soviet state. only your. results were in the soviet union as in all communist countries at the time it was nearly impossible to be a man of the church and not have ties to the state. and the communist states. synonymous with the police and the soviet union secret intelligence service the k.g.b. you know she would take him because she could yet up with. that he had a blast to make the ark heroes career path in the church was meteoric on the causal supports they need to put us at the age of twenty six or twenty seven became the representative of the russian orthodox church and spent three years in geneva.

naturally the k.g.b. will have approved his appointment. it would have been possible otherwise. it's all delegation members who went abroad a million particularly the delegations leaders wrote reports to the committee of religious affairs. and copies of these reports went to the k.g.b. . go each go he'll. so it is correct to say that from a young age cure all had ties with the k.g.b. also chance of. the question is did he throw his collaboration betray any individuals or the interests of the church we just said. there are no straight forward to such questions. of the keel bill but it's the paisley or the hero represented the russian orthodox church and

religious organizations in the west. he had little opportunity to betray people. unlike the clergy and church leaders back home raided with the k.g.b. inside the soviet union and i see it's called. even today the k.g.b. remains the common denominator among a large section of russia's ruling elite. from gullible. doesn't mean you're your heroes time in geneva he was naturally expected to pursue a very specific course of action. that proved a great educational opportunity in which to hone his political skills all the pilots a-q. . and it's this shared soviet past that enables the patriarchy role to speak the same language as today's politicians and civil servants you can you. know music you . will continue. his ascent in the church then two decades into his

career the soviet universe collapsed in the ruins of post soviet russia a religious resurgence that had begun with perestroika picked up momentum parishes had already been reopening since nine hundred eighty eight the millennial anniversary of russia's conversion to christianity which also saw baptism numbers saw. the designers rocket scientists lin the one nine hundred ninety s. the church moved to fill in a new void emerging through a lack of symbols identity and models. for prophecy but that wasn't easy because the entire communist operators during the transition period remain a deeply until clerical and atheist book so the church had to assert itself it got its break when putin came to power because he understood that he wouldn't be able to build a new russia or claim that communism had been albeit just

a small mistake in the history of this great nation without getting the church on board and from that moment on an alliance of sorts was forged at the highest level of power. today the russian orthodox church has returned to its former glory. in twenty seventeen for celebrations to mark this interior of the patriarchates restoration it rolled out all of the pomp and ceremony of an established and institutionalized church. on this occasion carol has invited the primates of fourteen churches here together lately orthodox world. was. was ever was.

hundred bishops and thousands of faithful. but the ceremony is just a prelude to singing a religious and political meeting that follows. all of the also doubts church leaders are received by vladimir putin at his presidential residence physically damages from moscow it's basically an outpost of the crimean. if it could get to you this is for the simultaneous translation. you believe you do unfortunately in the second decade of the twenty first century we are again confronted with something that seems to have long since been condemned and down dated namely religious persecution bodies of christians have also been targeted. christiane but of course the situation in syria warrants special attention many christian churches and monasteries have been

plundered and destroyed. for several years the russian state actually gather with the russian orthodox church and other religious organizations has been providing humanitarian aid to the victims in syria of the projects on the couch and on the all of the projects for the protection of middle eastern christians and the preservation of christian values has afforded the opportunity to cast himself in the role of benefactor and defend he presents himself as an honorable and internationally recognized politician who can negotiate peace deals he wants once and for all to dispel his image as a dictator that. call from the president putin for president putin or the church provides an opportunity to exert influence. uses this opportunity. demonstrating his closeness to

patriarch kirill but also by presenting himself as a devout orthodox christian also met all seven. after doc's last year for example when he bathes in icy water on the feast of russian orthodox epiphany it's been a ritual that marks the baptism of jesus he's doing what all russians do at him today he can speak directly to the russian people because he is just like them just like to ask you to come and. look at me ask you feel patriotic carol is very keen on de secularizing russian society he wants to empower the church on all levels politically socially and economically i knew that when you they know very well that they need each other and they know very well that this relationship has a high symbolic value in their four years for whom it's part of a mechanism lending any legitimacy and of course also for carol because he needs the support of the state. at the by difficult.

carol does indeed need state support because over eighty percent of the population professes to be russian orthodox only focus and a regular churchgoer now is that near attendance rates in the western world. they have pushed mom between states and church accelerated and met mass anti-government protests in the winter of twenty eleven and twelve. me. protesters condemned alleged ballot raking in parliamentary elections and demanded everyone directing their anger at the kremlin. it was in this context that the activists great pussy riot performed its punk prayer

crisis. say the cathedral in moscow with a him like opening referencing tradition also talks music exploded into a rant against clear over and above against to see. if any. of. the videos the foremans went viral it landed two of the activist sentences to two years in a prison colony igniting contentious debates in russian society i think i. like that song my glove with bush right still in the main reason pussy riot ran into trouble was the line mother of god banished putin yes some of abortion that the bill unless you can you're seeing his name crop up in a prayer was totally unexpected for him to any acute the slight slight he found it

so unpleasant and unacceptable when you no doubt felt that everyone needed to feel the severity of his ultimate lee unfounded reaction or stuff he and i had a night sweep of the show. the church was willing to sweep all this under the carpet and not pay much attention to such performances of . anybody though like. everything that happened subsequently was the result of a personal insult to the president to slovenia way d.x. have all but the new procedure. to months later called a nationwide day of prayer designed to hue divisions laid bare by the pussy riot protest. was that army should work here. but yet at that we have been attacked by persecutors. this attack is not comparable to the attacks we have experienced in

the past the danger lies in the fact that blasphemy sacrilege and derision of the sacred are championed does lawful expressions of human freedom that must be protected in our modern society let me just walk. away. if used it was a showcase prayer services like that not only drum together all of moscow's clergy but brought in entire bus loads from neighboring regions and you all of them so left all this was a kind of spectacle performed for a single spectator. for putin with the approach in the. us mother to make today debated a number of bills one designed to protect religious feelings was passed in a second reading deliberate and public insults to believe his feelings now carry fines of up to three hundred thousand rubles in prison sentences or up to one year

of these offenses inside the church allow fines of half a million roubles or three years in prison. in the wake of the church's response to the pussy riot performance the duma passed a law in twenty thirteen making it a crime to offend the religious feelings of the faithful. the bill paves the way for the conviction of a russian you too that he was sentenced to three and a half years on probation after filming himself playing talk among those in church . with the help of parliament the orthodox church has increasingly exerted its influence on social debate. since twenty twelve the church has tightened its grip on society for example through a door mandating the teaching of religion in schools russian legislation has grown increasingly conservative. but. in the uk at three

this was followed by a number of further changes to the family code of justice in particular that there was talk of same sex partners not being allowed to adopt children was and so on again year for him. every year to mark national unity day on the event a full kill and person open a major exhibition celebrating the russian nation. this time the thing is russia's future. cut i'm going to introduce my project this is an organic water purification facilitating a better place for this helmet is for people who can no longer move or talk they can use it to communicate and train their brain. to let's see if we'd like to show

you this motorcycle by the manufacturer a kalashnikov. hope the motor bike can go into production in the first happens next year it. looks like he's still sort of free to the exhibition on the future of russia is extremely interesting because it presents a double challenge and more probably the first is modernization in russia that must exhilarate its pace in order to catch up with the west or even overtake it. said but this modernization is only possible if it is anchored within russia spiritual and traditional values spirit trail we have to say that at least such values presented in this exhibition in a rather picky. the away at the film illustrates and lets threats to the question of tomorrow and seems would be of the beholder anything. to. just. stay neutral least you.

see this is not waging peace for you she said. she would see the use of. those in the. position she's the source of. the story. so we should go. for. peace and peace or she. or she's going to shoot in your book so what lay says is the russian population has to unite around the government and isolate people from the west. and there's just one topic that clearly unites the church and the government in separates them from

the west's diminished thoughts at least that was the case between twenty twelve and twenty sixteen and that is the topic of sexuality. heterosexuality that he and homosexuality forced to get this should be not still possible after twenty twelve when the states began using the topic of gay marriage for propaganda purposes we saw a rise in anti european sentiments you better get shoes which that i should russia was depicted by the propagandists not as a counterweight to europe a crock but rather as the real old europe because the issues that are your little so europe has taken the wrong turn and gone down the wrong path so what we've stayed on course. with the lawyer preview ginia yet if we look at the numbers in every day behavior of russians and we didn't. we see of course the christian values are much more present in every day european life than is often the case in russia and russia continues to rank number one in the world when it comes to abortions. but the reality on the ground counts will little in the wider attempt to shape

russian identity. in contrast to the west russia is but trade is exemplary. the church is strongly involved in promoting this image. is really what the scriptures that when we lived in an atheistic society well mixed in which we orthodox christians and the faithful in general body least identified more closely with the west than with our own society but thems that that why it would be different if because people there could go openly to churches and religious practice was respected there was also i was just not switched out as the complete opposite is happening. we now see that the west is losing what united us on the scene you know make peace that we no longer see western society. as one that shares our values options to look at. this display and wait for a look. at resisting developments in the west has become synonymous with the promotion of traditional values it's a way of regaining

a lost identity and at the same time offers geopolitical leverage because it paves the way to your line since movements that are not only sponsored by the state office but also religious or even political movements all generally based on traditional values or. on a visit to france in december twenty sixth team the patriarch gives an impromptu press statement at the russian orthodox seminary in f.m.s. was enough asked about same sex marriage carol reiterate starts off. the top when you. state she and yeah we're not demanding that people with any particular sexual orientation be treated more strictly. categorically oppose giving such relationships the same status as the god sanctified covenant of marriage from which children emerge ensuring humanity's continued existence before you resign

what belongs to god's plan must not be corrected by any politically motivated doctrine or action. but the real reason for carol's visit to france is the consecration of the russian orthodox trinity cathedral in paris. at the first of the uncle tell him it's part of a spiritual and cultural center built up to the intervention of both lot of a puritan and then french president nicolas sarkozy. financed by the russian state it cost one hundred fifty million euros. was. it exemplifies the alliance between the church and the state. so. so the church the new cultural center and the embassy form an entity with diplomatic status. basically this is a miniature edition of russia and the russian orthodox church with in france.

itself is a new i saw to the strong is only good after seventy years of communism russia is completely rebuilding itself the image of a russia that is once again in a position to be a global player is inextricably linked to all the dogs iraq because nothing embodies russian identity more than its religion. the u.s. has hollywood and coca-cola russia has its liturgies with icons incense and elaborately rope to priests it's russia's way of making its mark of them and it's what sets it apart from the rest of the world. as. cruel as you will. see it on looks and on visits to the west curial is pursuing two objectives he wants to revenge allies the west which is in danger of demise taking me the idea being that it's up to russia to show people an alternative path to american liberalism and also he believes that orthodox christians of the russian tradition

must now be subordinate to the jurisdiction of the moscow patriarchate to try to stop the nearest members of the russian community are attending the consecration. one of the reasons this church was built was to ingratiate influence over this diaspora. said get into it and let you do stuff to help us get beyond this cathedral is a soft power tool because it can be used to mobilize and reunite the old russian diaspora that resulted from the revolution. and. a new diaspora that dates from the one nine hundred ninety s. and from which the parish church draws its members. to be close in the orthodox church and with it russian state institutions want to restore the last unity of the russian world mean. that the nice bits and they were

not using it to demonstrate its presence in any way not at all but very many russians and very many russian orthodox christians live in france he said yes and we have a duty to provide pastoral guidance switching throughout almost the entire twentieth century since the first wave of russian immigration in following the revolution up until recently we only had a church in a garage ongoing protests that the garage was converted into a church you know imagine that but them for. in actual fact there's long been an orthodox church in paris opened by russian exiles after the nine hundred seventeen revolution. that it is and that the patriarch case of constantinople regarded as the first among equals in the eastern orthodox church .

accumulates hero is the head of the largest orthodox church but the formal head of the orthodox world is the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople. carol is not at all happy about this paradox like the bridge of cura lays claim to speaking for the orthodox world in talks with rome he wants all orthodox churches to follow his lead when it comes to values it's that way but the patriarch of constantinople is not his ally in this enterprise with the interferes and that creates tension over him and there's been human appreciating. in his power struggle with constantinople carol uses his political process and his community's numerical superiority to his advantage but he has one big weak point you create the country has the third largest also population in the world in recent years after centuries under the moscow patriarchate it began turning its back on carol's church. the twenty fourteen my done protests in the capital kiev erupted in the division

over whether ukraine should face east or west the crisis escalates it when russia annexed crimea and must go back separatists seize territory in eastern ukraine today kiev and moscow remain locked in a tense stand off. ukraine is a sensitive subject for patriarch kirill. but it's an existential threat to carroll addressing this dispute publicly is problematic because it's a taboo subject. so the show also applies split church which believed it had entered into a perfect partnership with the state on matters of foreign policy is reaching the limits of its power here last year when it comes to ukraine the two entities have conflicting interests until a soul. it's election day in russia vladimir putin is certain to win the only question is how high voter turnout will be carol is playing his pass and

calling on russians to go to the ballot box. just because we know the slogan for modern advertising because i'm worth it. what i say that our people are worth that our nation deserves to have a new and better future may god protect russia i see. far removed from the advertising slogans of western corporations carol continues his church's fight for the soul of russia and for global influence. his funds is far from over.

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play play. this is deja vu news live from bill and she is a cholera epidemic in mozambique hundreds of people contract a contagious disease following a devastating cyclone with vos numbers of people displaced relief workers all warning of a second to saw staff also coming up. thousands of palestinians mock the end of their street off the way to gaza priciest bus.