At the lessons “Conversations about the important”, which take place in Russian schools on Mondays, schoolchildren were shown the address of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev) in honor of Christmas, Sota found out .
“Dear students, every time we look at the calendar, we involuntarily turn to the event of the Nativity of Christ, even if we know nothing about it. It was this event that became the basis for the calendar system by which we all now live <…>. For humanity, Christ is the antidote to sin and death.”
Earlier, the patriarch called on the warring parties to cease fire and establish a "Christmas truce" from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7. After that, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced a ceasefire, but the "truce" was violated , the Russian Armed Forces fired on Bakhmut.
In December, the patriarch demanded a law to defer mobilization for members of the clergy, amid news that a new wave of mobilization could be announced in Russia, presumably after the New Year. Vladimir Putin never signed the law on the end of mobilization, so all statements by the president, as well as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, about its completion have no legal force. At the same time, Gundyaev claimed that during the “partial” mobilization of the Russian Orthodox Church, she came to a temporary agreement with the Ministry of Defense regarding deferrals for church ministers. But the Patriarch asked to consolidate this agreement by law.
Patriarch Kirill justifies the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. In addition, he calls on the clergy and believing Russians to pray for Putin's "health". Pope Francis previously described how, during a telephone conversation, the patriarch made arguments in support of the war. In April, almost 200 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate ( the UOC had already separated from it ) demanded that Patriarch Kirill be brought before a church tribunal.