Russian Church strives to keep up moral norms in European society

28 February 2008, 16:16

Moscow, February 28, Interfax – The Russian Orthodox Church stands for the primacy of moral law in private, public and political life of the European continent.

“The Russian Orthodox Church is concerned with the future of Europe. It is our duty to state: lack of centuries-proven models of righteous life suppresses human dignity,” the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations head Metropolitan Kirill said on Wednesday at a round table in Moscow with president of the European People’s Party Wilfried Martens.

According to the metropolitan, only economically profitable things are allowed to public space and profitable is to slave a person to his passions and exploit his instincts.”

“It’s always easier to deprive a person of his money if he is intoxicated with passions and moved by instincts rather than if he strives to live in compliance with moral ideas,” Metropolitan Kirill stressed.

The Russian Church’s representative is convinced that slavery to passions is “the most serious threat for human dignity”, as it makes happiness impossible for Europeans, destroys their freedom and makes public problems insoluble.

“Europeans should revise the role of their spiritual heritage for the continent’s future in order to escape these dangers,” Metropolitan Kirill said. He pointed out that Europe’s moral idea is expressed in traditional Christian values and “civilization will exist so long as humanity manages to tell good from evil, truth from lie, sin from righteousness.”

Representative of the Russian Church to the European Institutions Bishop Hilarion pointed out to another contemporary problem of the Western Europe which is Christianophobia.

The bishop explained that it not only drives Christian values away from social life, but also has external manifestations. For example, it’s impossible to buy a Christmas card in free sale in Great Britain as it is considered politically incorrect. Portugal schools named after saints strive to get rid of saints in their titles.

The bishop is perplexed that European society is more anxious to protect criminal’s life than lives of unborn children. He also said that when homosexual right to adopt children is discussed, they seldom question if children have right not to be adopted by such families.

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