Many Westerners know little about the new Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Father Kirill. Many Russians know him as a great orator and a host of a weekly TV show "Pastor's Word." However, very few know that Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev by passport), a billionaire and a former KGB operative, made his fortune in tobacco, alcohol, and oil sales. His activities were among the main reasons why not-for-profits in Russia lost tax-deductible status. The new Orthodox leader is fond of playing with stocks, car racing, downhill skiing, and breeding exclusive kinds of dogs. He owns villas in Switzerland and a penthouse with a view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
After Patriarch Aleksiy II died, the Orthodox Synode, made up of spiritual, business, and social leaders, took up the evening news and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to elect a new leader. After Mitropolits Filaret and Kliment withdrew their candidacies, Kirill won the position. When it became too obvious that Aleksiy was at the end of his life, Mitropolit Mephody, who had been considered the strongest candidate for the Patriarch's post, was sent to lead the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. Maybe just a coincidence, but rumors and articles in local newspapers suggested a different scenario. I heard all the stories from friends while witnessing the historic events in Moscow. Later, I took time to research whether or not they were true.
Kirill graduated with honors from Leningrad Spiritual Academy in 1969. In 1970, he earned his master's degree, and after several minor positions was appointed a personal secretary to Mitropolit Nikodim, chief of the external church relations. Since that moment, Kirill became the face of the Orthodox Church in all foreign trips to Western Europe. According to vlasti.net website, Kirill's colleagues and competitors linked all his travels to his work for the Soviet KGB where he was known by nickname "Mikhailov." Starting in 1972, Kirill/Gundyaev/Mikhailov became more involved with the countries of the Middle East. In 1975, at a forum in Nairobi, he defended the Soviet Union and downplayed dissidents' letters by making historic claims that people of faith were not persecuted and there were no human rights abuses based on religion in the Soviet Union.
Kirill is progressive, speaks foreign languages, worked on the issues of unarming the USSR and the US, and advocated usage of the modern Russian language (instead of old Slavic) during the services. In 1991, the year the Soviet Union fell apart, he earned the title of Mitropolit. The new era of capitalism brought new achievements to Mitropolit Kirill's life. In 1996, Kirill became a board member of bank "Peresvet" that is responsible for servicing the financial interests of the Russian Orthodox Church. The 1996 September issue (#34) of the Moscow News reports that Kirill, now for two years, had been organizing imports of highly taxable products, mostly tobacco, under the tax-exempt non-profit banner of the Orthodox Church. The claims were supported by other respectable news sources, including the Moskovsky Komsomolets.
The soon-to-be Patriarch confirmed the import of the highly unchristian products. By 1997, Kirill admitted the import of alcohol and tobacco, but claimed that the Russian Orthodox Church could not refuse the "humanitarian help." The Russian Orthodox Church and Kirill's private foundation "Nika" were not-for-profit organizations, and in 1996 alone they imported eight billion cigarettes to Russia. Kirill's "church" business took off like a snowball, as the legal competitors could not compete with his low prices for tobacco and alcohol. The importers were naturally pushed off the market as they could not match Kirill's prices after paying the necessary government dues.
In 2001, Kirill purchased the penthouse in Moscow, and people familiar with the matter claimed that Kirill shifted his interest into real estate, oil, and stocks. According to the research of the Russia's shadow economy conducted by the Russian State Humanitarian University in 2004, Kirill's fortune eclipsed at four billion US dollars.
I hope that Father Kirill's managerial gifts and smooth communication abilities will help strengthen the Orthodox Church and streamline the issues inside of this gigantic and complicated structure. However, shouldn't the Christian leadership start with the faith and not with the semi-criminal wily money-making techniques?
Yuri Mamchur is the director of the Real Russia Project. The views expressed here are his own.
Yuri, you are absolutely right about the need to start with faith, not immoral business practices, let alone KGB collaboration. That this man is Patriarch is a clear sign, among many others, that the Moscow Patriarchate is still to all intents and purposes the Soviet Orthodox Church. True Orthodox believers in Russia should abandon this evil institution and join one of the True Orthodox jurisdictions that are not in communion with the MP (such as the synod under Metropolitan Tikhon of Omsk).
What an excellent collection of old and well-tested anti-Kirill rumors and reports. As always a case with smear campaigns, a mixture of truth and lies. It would be good if the writer had at least got his facts straight in regard to the actual election process -- who withdrew his candidacy, who did not, as well as that wonderful white and shiny Metropolitan Mephody who had supposedly been the strongest. However, most of it is really irrelevant in regard to the actual situation on the ground.
And why are you treating your readers as total idiots by describing Moskovsky Komsomolets, where you got most of this stuff, as a "respectable" source? It is anything but, particularly in the church issues.
To compare, my analysis of the election is here.
(may require a registration to read)
How does such a man really inspire faith in God when he has shown his faith to be in materialism and exploitation? The church will not be built on a rock with this man in charge but will be opening itself to criticism and the weakness that hypocrisy brings. I'd almost say that Christ would be "rolling over in his grave" if he was in one with this "money changer" in charge.
Shame on you. You haven't a clue even how to address a bishop (calling him "father" although he's been in the episcopate for decades) and you pretend to have the inside scoop on Russian Church life.
And you get your facts wrong, while pretending that you've done your homework. Only one of the nominees withdrew his candidacy.
The nominees were selected by secret ballot from among all eligible candidates. The choice of lay delegates of the synod has nothing to do with whether the delegates are "business leaders," although they may in fact be such.
After Filaret withdrew his candidacy, there was another vote to decide whether a replacement should be chosen so that the final vote would choose from three candidates, as originally intended.
Regarding the "tobacco scandal," you might want to read this article:
http://interfaxreli.customers.ru/?act=news&div=5617
which deals with revelations by the former head of the FTS. There was a scandal indeed, but it is unfair to lay it Kirill's feet.
Yes, Kirill was a "KGB operative," as had been Alexey II before him. If we were talking about Putin, you would point out that the context-free invocation of this fact is usually designed to produce a negative and suspicious knee-jerk reaction. Here, you'd rather produce such a reaction, regardless of the net result of the the man's labor for the Church.
It is obvious that you are not a Christian by confession, since you are unfamiliar with Church life. We did not ask you how things should be done, nor for your opinion of whether the present (not "future" - he was enthroned more than a month ago) patriarch is Christian enough for you.
I expect better from this blog. Perhaps you should consider working for the BBC - after you learn how to use definite and indefinite articles.
Yuri:
While raising some valid points, the article was written in a way that provoked these replies.
I'll address one of your points on the use of Church Slavonic in the ROC. I'm not rough on the ROC for using Church Slavonic. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend the musical/movie Fiddler on the Roof based on Sholem Aleichem's stories on Russian Empire era Jewry. Among other great songs in that musical, there's this one "Tradition": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw. A portion of Sephardic (my half background) services are conducted in Ladino, with Catholics having a similar situation vis-Ã -vis Latin. What's your opinion of Catholic priests not being able to marry? A rhetorical question on the basis of your Church Slavonic point on the ROC.
IMO, there's a good deal of ROC bashing which is unfair. Some others don't seem to come under a similar scrutiny.
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A. Duke & Jonathan Gress:
Other denominations have issues as well:
http://www.counterpunch.org/navarro05022005.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=vatican+rat+Line&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
On the matter of releasing documents, the Vatican has yet to release all documents on its WW II ties with folks like the Ustasha.
There's good and bad to be found among all denominations the size of the ROC. IMO, you're both wrong in the way you caricature the ROC. I reference the Vatican without malice towards Catholics at large (I can just as well find fault within elements of Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and other faiths). Rather, to hit home how some feel towards your comments.
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Adam Fallenoffenbar:
I'm not clear that Aleksy was a "KGB operative." I understand this has been claimed as well of Filaret who has become a darling to some for having broken from the Moscow Patriarchate.
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Andrei Zolotov:
At least Yuri allows for dissenting views. Seeing how I get censored by some supposedly open minded venues, I'm going to address several points.
Awhile back, a very small number of Muslims in Russia protested that the Russian emblem is "too Christian." When looked at closely, it has three small crosses above the crowns. At the time you might've still been with The Moscow Times (I'd have to check my in box for the approximate date). I submitted a rebuttal noting among other things how Russia's emblem is comparatively less religious than a good number of other flags and emblems. TMT got back to me with a note saying thanks but we don't run such views. Another English language Moscow based venue offered to run the commentary minus a fee. I refused that scenario on the basis that it's a purportedly high profile venue which should therefore pay. Still yet, a Russian owned and operated Moscow based venue put the piece in the letters section - even though it had a cover letter marked as article submission and noting a fee arrangement. Upon my request, the piece was taken down.
I see that Georgy Bovt (who gets his share of play at Independent Media affiliated Moscow Times and Russia Profile) has been invited to speak at an upcoming DC event. I wonder how much he's getting? These points address the not so discussed censorship of how some views clearly pay better than others. Here's my reply to Bovt's commentary on Russo-Ukrainian relations: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/69017
I've some criticism on what could be viewed as a very skewed PBS Foreign Exchange segment that you appeared on ( http://foreignexchange.tv/?q=node/1297 ). For now, that particular show (aired this past Feb. 13, doesn't appear to have been archived).
A dubious claim was made that Russia's independence recognition of S. Ossetia and Abkhazia threatens Tatarstan remaining in Russia.
Here's my review of an earlier Foreign Exchange show relating to the subject:
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/averko/008.shtml
When some countries recognize Kosovo's independence, that's not a threat to stability, unlike when Russia recognizes the independence of S. Ossetia and Abkhazia. Meantime, there's no evidence of increased separatism in Tatarstan. The mentioned Foreign Exchange segment only referenced some Tatar separatist literature that reflects a tiny portion of Tatarstan's population. As you probably know, Turkey's president recently visited Tatarstan. To date, there appears to be no noticeable rise in separatist sentiment in Tatarstan.
Sure, enough. Patriarch Kyrill is personally a tobacco billionaire! I thought for sure this was a mistake, but its readily confirmable on numerous web sites.
Perhaps Kyrill's "business savvy" is crucial for the Church in rough and tumble of Russian public life, but his personal wealth alone does seem to detract from his qualifications as a spiritual leader.
OTOH, Russian history teaches that its real spiritual leaders are often monastics or great artists that arise from the laity. Perhaps the Lord shall grace 21st century Russia with yet another Saint in Russia's great, long line of holy men.