your holiness, thank you for this annual opportunity to communicate with you on the eve of the bright holiday of the nativity of christ . thank you for the opportunity to meet with you, and through your questions and still feel the interests and interests 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 attention in the first place and will not hide it with human pleasure. i am meeting with you. thanks your holiness. it will soon be a year since we live in conditions military conflict, and i know, and everyone knows, that the russian church has been tirelessly

praying for peace all this time, but fyodor mikhailovich dostoevsky once said, i will quote, to be precise, a long peace hardens people, a long peace produces apathy, not baseness of thought, debauchery dulls feelings of social preponderance. during a long peace , it always passes over to gross wealth in the end. now, does this mean in your opinion that wars between states are inevitable since the world under dostoevsky so negatively affects the moral state of society. uh, it seems to be from the writers' 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 i 'll look again later, but now, it seems to me that these were not his words. he puts these words in so someone else, but actually, uh hmm , the thought is such 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 relationship in education in many other areas life, but here is the most important thing that i endured for myself in my time. what an impression from all this, even from personal experience, i can say that it is really a burden that falls on the shoulders of a correct perception of this burden, of course, and spiritual psychologically. it helps growth, so difficulties 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 occur in the life of both society and the state, so that the people became more consolidated when it comes to difficulties associated with danger and beyond, so that people really

consolidate, so that they value what they have more, so that there is a desire to protect what they have, well, to improve their personal social life, therefore, difficulties for us may be given so that we 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 the ribbon, as we say to the front line, and a huge number of military priests left. they are there now and many of them have died. here is one of my mikhail vasiliev, you are a jew. he is worthy of the title of a hero and russia, your holiness. what do you think, how important is the presence of the priests of the russian orthodox church today, and maybe other deer-eating ethers are also there ? a 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 military action - this is a huge risk. if we take the pre-revolutionary practice, then the regimental priest with a cross in his hands. she started the attack and went with the first ones who left the trench 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 it humanizes this difficult, very negatively radical sphere of human existence. this is

someone who can listen to help, we advise 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. eh, because after all, people have great feelings for their loved ones, for those who can lay down their lives, so i want to say again that the priest does not take a weapon in his hand. 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 target and at the same time no one leaves from there. as long as

the hierarchy does not recall, they remain faithful to their priestly oath and loyalty to their pastoral duty. i really appreciate the hard work of our clergy 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 , of course, we are talking about military personnel in this case. recently the president of the russian the federation has approved a number of proposals, which, by the way, the russian orthodox church has advocated for a long time. 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 that's how much external laws can affect the internal state of a person. this is a big question. it seems to me that , of course, the spiritual factor, the upbringing of culture, primarily influences the internal state of a person, 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 what today russia is a russian state, the russian government has taken this position this indicates that moral issues. questions of the 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 the church of the priests, but precisely the representatives of the authorities, but i think that all 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 implementation of the covenants of charles de gaulle with the europeans on the construction of a common space from lisbon to vladivostok and now it is becoming clear to all of us that this project has failed. but when you spoke at the federation council, you said that russia is not self-isolating, that it is not closing the very window that peter once opened to europe. but this window remains open only for mutually respectful dialogue, and not ideological dictate. tell your compatriots, what awaits now in

relations with europe, does it mean that we have there is no longer a common basis in mind, but rather common christian values. after all, they simply ignore this, to put it mildly, of course, these are the problems of europe because we preserve these christian churches. values ​​and even e hmm in our multi-religious society, where a large percentage of muslims e these values ​​are preserved, because they are refracted, including muslim teachings. eh god about man, so for us everything is preserved. but, and if somewhere it disappears, so much the worse for those from whose life all this disappears. what means to lose the moral scale of values ​​is an assessment of values ​​from the point of view of morality, that's how it is better to say it means to lose orientation to lose spiritual orientation 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 by no means, and therefore a person becomes very manipulated. he is very weak he is really losing his freedom. a where all this can lead if evil grows in human relations, here we have an apocalyptic prospect before us, what is the age of apocalypse, the disappearance of good from people's lives, will i find faith in people, says the lord this is the complete disappearance of good and moral criterion. this is the disappearance

of that guideline, the destruction of that guideline that helped humanity ascend from strength to strength and 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. no special news here. all this is written in the apocalypse. what is the end of the world apocalypse, 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 from below. it will come from the person himself and from human society, therefore our struggle is for moral principles. our struggle 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 keep human civilization alive. 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

pastas 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, let's 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. for example, what is absolutely good. recently, as you probably know, they announced the idea that that children of primary school age themselves, at their own discretion, 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. here. eh, tell me what you think, is this generally a reversible trend or is this how they become 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. this is generally a reversible process with them will be better than now itself reversible, that is, based on the level into which this society has now plunged, where all these horrors that we are talking about are becoming the norm of life. it is difficult to imagine how society itself is. can get out of this crisis. only if something happens. something, and this is in the hands of god, it could be 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 that system of values ​​that came to us from above and working in which a person can only remain a person, 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 towards the future. here either the really difficult conditions of life, which 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, what a strong country came out not only militarily in moral terms, how strong we all came out. it’s either like this. well, either. so, 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 in the middle of the last century and here and now, who would have thought that 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 he faces. either keep the faith or give it up, and that's it

those who will keep the faith piety fidelity to the canonical church. they certainly take the path of confession. they have already embarked on this path, because such a nasty persecution of the church and so on has really been unleashed in the center of europe. i really believe in the strength of the spirit of the orthodox ukrainian people. people are very strong in their faith. uh, 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 has found itself 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 the head of those who, e, all these calls are connected with the improvement of the material life of people. here they live in the west, the rich are good. 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 many many things that today accompanies, yes, the christianization of western society, therefore i do not presume to judge how right or wrong it is from a political point of view? this is not my question. i judge all this solely from the point of view of the pastor, there will be ukrainians with a sex change. 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 what then is the feat of the saints, the kiev-pechersk lavra pochaev lavra, all this monastic tradition, in fact in fact, we are talking, of course, undoubtedly in the struggle with the church with the orthodox church, which was and god forbid that in the future it will be 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 hostilities 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

sincere indifference to people both within 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 public consciousness, which have an impact on the consciousness of young people, and what is happening now, of course, cannot but touch. and don't be grateful. i know so many of these young people volunteers who go there. to dangerous places and so they make a very sacrifice for their service and 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 our passion young people in charitable affairs, evidence of assistance 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 in ultimately reflect favorably on their personal lives, and therefore should reflect favorably 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 suffering times. these external forces worked to separate the people, and at

best push one part against the other. if you look at history, it's it happened, but the orthodox church is and has been a force that holds 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 unia really divided the people of western southern russia, but besides, not only did it divide, it led to a bloody clash. and where there is blood 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 side in general hatred is cultivated, and at once to everything, but to everything russian. but this year is a year. e of 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 what 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, no cultivation, we especially treat their leadership. understandably, we criticize, but also, after all, in political categories we go down to what insults for books. we do not agree with the political position of the leadership, but speeches does not go no, as he cultivates

an unfriendly attitude towards ukraine to the ukrainians, and i, as the patriarch of all russia , 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 unity factor is not political unity, but spiritual unity, for sure, since we are united with the orthodox people who belong to our church in the united states of america in great britain in western europe anywhere, we are one church one people one praying community. but even this spiritual unity is too much 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 one should be holiday. 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, and so on, 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 soul of a person, even the consciousness of a person. here is creating this special state of experiencing the holidays in joy in quiet joy in prayerful joy, but joy this is the same joy to be and one for all and for our brothers and sisters in 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 russia 24 russia culture vgtrk we congratulate you on the bright holiday of christmas and wish god's help to all who work on these channels, uh, who are, uh, very important in general in our information space, and who have the opportunity to have a positive impact, both emotional and ideological, 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.

i welcome, dear friends, on our next issue of the author's program besogon tv is called it will be transported and now there. i hope you understand why our program was called that? but of course, as usual