The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’, Kirill, called upon Russian citizens to not lose heart due to the economic difficulties in the country.
He mentioned this in an interview that will be translated on Thursday on Rossiya 1 tv channel, reports Interfaks.
“Right now, in general, the difficulty is relative – a person earns a little more or a little less (only God forbid the economic situation from getting worse), but in general, today there is no tragedy in the country”, declared the leading priest.
- The World Bank worsened its forecast for Russian and World economy.
For this reason, according to him, “those who are faint at heart get disappointed, those who on the inside are weak, empty people”. “If you relate your well-being only to money, if well-being can be measured only by the quality of a vacation, by the material conditions of life, the the smallest reduction of consumption may seem to be a monstrous tragedy. So what does that mean? That means, that the person is not very life-capable”, declared the patriarch.
He considers that in Russia, although slowly and not without difficulties, there is a rapprochement of two beginnings in the life of the people, “the synthesis of material, scientifical and technical beginnings and people’s determination toward a prosperous life with a growth in their spiritual needs”. “I cannot say that we have been very successful. We very well may be at the very beginning of the way, but it is a very right way”, added the patriarch.
He also called upon people to actively struggle against poverty in Russia. “One of our national tasks must be the elimination of poverty in Russia, the elimination of homelessness. The Church is trying to do everything in its power to help heat in the wintertime, wash, clothe, give advice, buy a ticket for a ride home. These are not very significant measures, but on a national scale, the implementation of a program for the elimination of homelessness is a priority”, announced the patriarch.
In his statement, he called to distinguish between misery and poverty, like in Fyodor Dostoyevskiy’s ‘Crime and Punishment’, where one of the protagonists points out that poverty does not destroy pride and self-confidence, whereas misery brushes people away from human communication.
“In reality, misery throws the person away from social thinking. Who will want to associate with a wretched tramp that sleeps on the street, who will let him in their home? They will let in a poor, clean-dressed, intelligent person and will talk with him, and will hire him, but a tramp – that’s it, he is an outcast. But this is our people, these are not some aliens that came to us from outer space”, remarked Kirill.
Let us remind you, that exactly a year ago in an interview on the same TV channel, the patriarch declared that a change in the currency exchange rate cannot radical affect the well-being of the majority of Russian citizens.
Translated from: http://newsland.com/news/detail/id/1670600/
Originally published on 07.01.2016 by the online news portal Newsland.com.
Left Russia. 