and through your questions, you can still feel the interest of the media , and this interest probably reflects to a large extent the interest of our public in the life of the church, and therefore always with great first attention and will not hide with human pleasure with you meet. thanks your holiness. it will soon be a year since we live in the conditions of a military conflict, and i know, and everyone knows that the russian church. all this time he has been praying tirelessly for peace. but fyodor mikhailovich dostoevsky once said, i will quote, to be exactly a long peace hardens people, a long peace produces apathy, immutability of thought, debauchery dulls the feelings of social preponderance. during a long peace, it always ends up in gross wealth. now, does this mean, in your opinion, that wars between

states are inevitable since the world, according to dostoevsky, has such a negative effect on the moral state of society. eh, this seems to be from the writer's diary, if i'm not mistaken, and it seems to me that this is not dostoevsky's dictionary, but the words of some other character. uh, maybe again later. i'll look, but now, it seems to me that these were not his words. he puts these words into the charter of someone else. but actually, hmm, the idea is one that is inherent in general not only to dostoevsky. these are the hardest moments in a person’s life, when you need to step over yourself, to achieve something in your professional growth in education in many other directions of life, but here is the most important thing for me, uh, as i once endured . what is my impression from all this, even from personal experience? say that indeed, the burden that falls on the

shoulders is the correct perception of this burden, of course, and spiritual psychological it helps growth, so they are given to us, including so that we become stronger and wiser. and you, if we talk about the life of the society of the state, so that positive changes take place in the life of both society and the state, so that the people become more consolidated, if we are talking about difficulties associated with dangers from the outside, so that people really consolidate, so that they appreciate more what they have, so that there is a desire to protect what they have, well, to improve their personal social life, therefore, difficulties are given to us, perhaps in order for us to become stronger and better. it all depends on what thoughts. with what aims of positing do we meet these difficulties and

struggle with them? to meet my difficulties for a ribbon, as we say, to the front line, but a huge number of military priests left. they are there now and many of them have died. here is one of them, mikhail vasiliev, he is worthy the title of hero and russia in yours. what do you think, how important is the presence of the priests of the russian orthodox church today. and maybe a friend in other broadcast confessions is also there on the front line. the priest does not have the right to take up arms. he cannot even defend himself during hostilities. that is, the presence of a priest in the armed forces during hostilities - this is a huge risk. if we take the pre-revolutionary practice, then the regimental priest with a cross in his hands. started the attack went with the first who came out of the cop. and went towards the enemy. and most

often priests died, because this is a desired target for the enemy. today our priests are also raising their spirits. and they strengthen the faith of our soldiers in the war zone, but of course, i would also like to say very much, how would a priest in the army humanize this difficult, very negatively radical sphere of human existence. this is the one who can listen to help, we advise you to pray together the one who does a lot of work with relatives, because most often wives. there, mothers and children turn, including to the clergy for support. uh, because people have great feelings for their loved ones, for those who can

lay down their lives. therefore, i want to say again that the priest does not take up arms. he continues to be a longed-for and easy target, and we know that we followed father mikhail vasiliev and this blow was dealt precisely in order to destroy him. and every priest who is in the war zone is aware that he is an easy desired target and at the same time no one from there doesn't leave. as long as the hierarchy does not recall , they remain faithful to their priestly oath and loyalty to their pastoral duty. i appreciate very hard our clergymen in any extreme situation. but, especially, where the presence of a priest is of great importance for the spiritual state of people and, first of all, we are talking, of course, military personnel, yes, in this case. recently

, the president of the russian federation approved a number of proposals, for which, by the way, the russian orthodox church for a long time spoke. i mean, those bills that concern the protection of our traditional spiritual values ​​and the prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia. here, how do you think from the moment these laws come into force, how much it will help the further moral improvement of our society. it is difficult to say, because, in fact, morality is a very inner human dimension. and now, how much external laws can affect the internal state of a person - this is a big question. i think she's on the inside the state of a person is primarily influenced, of course, by the spiritual factor, upbringing , culture, but why these laws are needed, the

state determines its attitude to these phenomena, they cease to exist. eh, what is called a certain norm, that is, what they are in other societies, the state does not repress people, but it declares its moral position. and this is extremely important and the fact that today russia is a russian state, russian power. took this position and it shows that moral issues. questions spiritual life of people are not indifferent to the modern russian authorities. well, and therefore, of course, all the forces of evil rush. in this case, not only on the church and priests, but also on the authorities, but i think that together we will cope with this problem. one of our high-ranking officials, a recently said i will quote. and what many in russia used to say and believed in the

possibility of implementing charles de gaulle’s covenant with the europeans on building a common space from lisbon to vladivostok and now for all of us it becomes clear that this project failed. and you, when you spoke at the federation council, said that russia is not the most isolated, that it does not close the very window that once peter opened to europe . but this window remains open only for mutually respectful dialogue, and not ideological dictate. here, tell me your testimony, what awaits now in relations with europe does it mean that we no longer have a common basis in the form, but a common christian values. after all, they simply ignore them, this is putting it mildly, of course, these are the problems of europe because we keep these christian values. and even uh hmm in our multi -religious society, where a large percentage of muslims these values ​​are preserved, because

they are refracted, including the muslim teachings, and god, about man, so everything is preserved for us. but, and if somewhere it disappears, so much the worse for those from whose life all this disappears. what does it mean to lose the moral scale of values, here is an assessment of values ​​from the point of view of morality, that's how it is better to say it means to lose landmarks to lose the spiritual guidelines in life. but, and if the landmarks are lost where the man goes, there are no internal landmarks. he doesn't own this compass. he is lost, destroyed, he goes where he is directed. and who directs the forces that operate in society, these forces always strive for the good at all. and that means a person becomes very manipulative. he is very weak he is really losing his freedom. and

where can all this lead if evil grows in human relations, here we have an apocalyptic prospect in front of us, what is the epoch apocalypse, the disappearance of goodness from people's lives, will i find faith in people says the lord this is the complete disappearance of goodness, e moral criterion. this is the disappearance of that guideline, the destruction of that guideline that helped humanity ascend from strength to strength, helps each person and still ascend from strength to strength, if all these landmarks are not destroyed. in other words, if this continues, then society is in danger of self-destruction and, from the point of view of the christian apocalyptic, no. there are no

special news. all this is written in the apocalypse. what is the apocalypse and the end of the world, how can the end of the world happen? under what conditions then when good disappears, because evil is not life, the apogee of evil is death, destruction, and if evil wins on a global scale, then humanity has completely spent any potential for life. this is the end of the world. it won't come from somewhere up there or down there. it will come from the person himself and from human society, therefore our struggle is for moral principles. our fight for the preservation of the faith is a struggle for the future of all mankind for the life of the world. neither more nor less, we are fighting for the life of the world. we are fighting to

ensure that human civilization remains capable of life. and as long as this is work. and this faith will be preserved and hope for the future will be preserved, and in this sense, of course, our country has a special role, because today russia is really becoming a spiritually strong community, and the more negative pressure is exerted on us, the stronger we become. i feel it like pasta and i meet people of different positions of different ranks. these difficulties do not weaken us. and so, if i want to emphasize once again, save everything that we have, let's save ourselves and our fatherland. well, they somehow do not want to save themselves. apparently. moreover, there is a real substitution of the concept of good and evil. here's an example, absolutely

kind recently, as you probably know, they announced the idea that primary school children are on their own. maybe they can determine their gender, that is change it. responsible precisely means some hormones that will then kill the very possibility of having children in the future for these people. tell me, what do you think, is this a generally reversible trend, or are they like this once and for all, when there is a trample. uh, all that's holy when there's rejection. e the very ideas of biblical ideas about man. in general, this reversible process with them will be better than it is now, it may be reversible itself, that is, based on the level into which this society has now plunged, where all these the horrors we speak become the norm of life it is hard to imagine how society itself. can get out of this crisis. only if something happens. and this is in the

hands of god, it can be like cataclysms. any cataclysms that shake the human mind when people are looking for a way out of a situation where the lack of a way out means death. in the face of such cataclysms , a person can change his thinking and can remember the value system that came to us from above and working in which a person only he can remain a man, and human society can exist. therefore, this is the only way, but to rely on the fact that through some kind of evolution from evil they will come to good. this is a beautiful-hearted and very far from reality attitude to the future here, or really difficult conditions of life that will make a person think about a lot, as happened during the great

patriotic war in our country, the conversion from atheism to the faith and in general, how strong the country came out not only militarily morally how we all turned out strong that's either so well, or means those who live in this terrible paradigm, where sin is mixed with virtue, and where the distinction between sin and virtue is generally lost. here, well then this system will lead, of course, to the saddest end. last year, we witnessed unprecedented pressure on the orthodox church in ukraine in general, everything that happens to the church in ukraine in general happened to the church, probably only in the middle of the last century and now and now, who would have thought, priests are sometimes threatened with health and

life, and before our eyes there is an encroachment on the shrine. and what will happen next in general with orthodoxy in ukraine do you think orthodoxy will be preserved? but in order to preserve orthodoxy. it is necessary to make sacrifices in these conditions. and it's not a voluntary sacrifice offering. and this is just the reaction of orthodox people to the challenge that they face. either save the faith, or abandon it, and all those who will keep the faith, piety, fidelity to the canonical church. they of course they embark on the path of confession. they have already embarked on this path, because such a nasty persecution of the church has really been unleashed in the center of europe. under the slogans of freedom democracy and so on

i really believe in the strength of the spirit of the orthodox ukrainian people. people are very strong in their faith. e, courageous, very emotional . god forbid that all these very best qualities of the ukrainian people help the ukrainian country overcome that deep spiritual crisis in which the country found itself. this is not only a political crisis, but it is a spiritual crisis. and all these calls, it means, uh, to democratize, to westernize the country. of course, they turn their heads to those who, uh, all these calls are associated with the improvement of the material life of people here, the rich live well in the west. now, if we follow this path , you, we will live well, but after all, on the same path, as we know, the issue of sex change is also on the agenda. critical attitude to religion

and much, much that today accompanies the christianization of western society, therefore i do not presume to judge how correct this is from a political point of view or wrong? this is not my question. i judge all this solely from the point of view of the pastor, ukrainians will put up with the change of sexes. they will put up with all this moral relativism that has become part of the culture and politics of the western world. if they agree to acceptance, that's all they lose their identity, their authenticity cease to be the holy land. and then what about the feat of the saints, the kiev-pechersk lavra pochaev lavra, all this monastic tradition, in fact, we are talking, of course, undoubtedly, in the struggle against the church with the orthodox a church that was and god forbid that in the future it was the great moral

spiritual force of the ukrainian people. your russian church has helped people a lot during the pandemic and has accumulated vast experience. and so, as soon as the wars of action began, the church immediately began to help people who were victims of the war , refugees. and i see how many people are. it's right there, as we are talking behind a ribbon and delivering parcels to soldiers helping those who have suffered, those who are wounded. what do you think, this is such a sincere indifference to people and inside the church and in our secular space can bring peace closer. from the point of view of the approach of the political world, it is difficult to say, but from the point of view of the improvement of the internal improvement of the life of our society, no doubt. these are very important impulses that have an impact on the public consciousness, which has

an impact on the consciousness of young people, and what is happening now, of course, cannot but touch, and here it does not cause a feeling of gratitude. i know so many of these young volunteer people who go there. in e in dangerous places and so they make very sacrifices in their ministry, people grow up under the weight of external circumstances, if they do not break under the influence of these circumstances, therefore, i think that everything that is happening now, including this, if we talk about the enthusiasm of our youth in charity indications of help there in these very difficult conditions in the donbass. i think that all this will contribute to such a positive change in the worldview of young people in their perception of life and, ultimately, will be reflected favorably in their

personal life, and therefore should reflect favorable on the life of our society. russian ukrainians are one people, in your opinion , this is undoubtedly one people who came out of the kiev baptismal font. but a very large people from the white sea to the black sea. and this is huge. she always aroused fears of envy among others and therefore the side of the times in them. these external forces worked to pull the people apart, and in the best case, push one part against the other. if you look at history, this is how it all happened, but the orthodox church is and has been a force holding this people together. that's why , in their time, very radical steps were taken to weaken the influence of the church in the first place. this creation of the union greatly divided

the people of western south russia indeed, but besides, not only did it divide, it led to bloody clashes, but where there is blood, there is there for a long time. now we really find ourselves on opposite sides of this great confrontation, and bitterness is clearly growing. and on the other hand , hatred is generally cultivated, and immediately to to everything, but to everything russian. but this year is a year, and our common history, as you said, we are one people and we have one date 1.035 years of the baptism of russia, we will celebrate this year. here. what do you think, can we, at least based on this date, count on the fact that we have some way to overcome the split between russians and ukrainians? uh, politically there is uh, the fact that ukraine has declared that it is radically changing the vector of its political

and, i would say, historical development. and that this new vector does not coincide with the vector of russia's development, that's the point. here they are trying to create a kind of civilizational prerequisite for dividing people. but here's how it really works. here is to bring this division to the very depths of people's life. this is a difficult question. although today everything is being done in ukraine so that in the eyes of ukrainians russia really becomes an enemy and in the eyes of ukrainians, so that the russian people, the russians, become another people. from how successful all this such activity will be, here, aimed at the creation of some kind of abyss between two parts of one people. this is what the

future will depend on, of course. but the church must do everything to ensure that in no case do ukrainians and russians become enemies. he thank god we do not have such cultivation. there is hatred for ukrainians. we treated them as we treated them in a special way, we criticize those who remain leading them, but also, after all, political categories do not descend to me for any insults. we do not agree with the political position of the leadership, but there is no question of what kind of cultivation unfriendly attitude towards ukraine to the ukrainians, and as the patriarch of all russia , i am especially attentive to this. for me, this is one people, one church. and therefore, therefore, of course, both the patriarch and the russian orthodox church are being struck, because the factor of unity is not political seclusion, but spiritual just like we are united with the orthodox people who

belong to our church in the united states of america in great britain anywhere in western europe, we are one church, one people, one praying community, but even this there is too much spiritual unity for those who want to dig a gulf between russia and ukraine, which is why the church is under attack. well, here are those who are digging the abyss between ukraine and russia. they probably will never be able to do one thing. they will not be able to cancel the julian calendar, and this calendar of russians and ukrainians remains. in general, thank god, and very soon we will celebrate the bright holiday of the nativity of christ together at the same time. this is what this holiday should be like. is there a place in this holiday for joy during sorrow, but if we say a holiday, we already mean joy, because all kinds of holidays become a holiday when people

celebrate, and celebrate from sorrow. celebration is impossible - this is bright emotions, bright feelings and church holidays in a special way affect the human soul, even the human consciousness. so creating this special state of experiencing the holidays of joy in quiet sti, in prayerful joy, but in joy. this is the same joy to be for everyone and for our brothers and sisters and ukraine and for all those of our brothers and sisters who live in russia for our entire church. your testimony we congratulate you all journalists of russian tv channels and who have

the opportunity to have a positive impact both emotionally and ideologically on all those who watch and listen to your channels, we try. thank you. all the best. i congratulate you on the upcoming christmas

. i change your eared puppy for your quiet life. january 7, a memorable date in the military history of russia january 7, 1878, 1877-1878

, the path to constantinople was opened for us. the orthodox today , those who celebrate christmas, congratulated vladimir putin. he noted the contribution of the russian orthodox church of other christian denominations in russia in preserving the historical memory of educating young people strengthening family institution. the christmas holiday inspires people to good deeds and serves to affirm enduring spiritual values. wrote the president holiday. he met in the annunciation cathedral of the kremlin this is one of the most ancient and richest works of art monuments.