President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Your Holiness.
I want to congratulate you on the double holiday of your Name Day and the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture. For obvious reasons, these dates coincide so well.
Patriarch Kirill: Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: I want to congratulate you and thank you warmly for everything that you are doing for our country and for all Orthodox believers, and not only for the Orthodox faithful, but for all people in our country, whether they are believers or not, or belong to other faiths. After all, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the spiritual foundations of our society and makes a big contribution to building harmonious coexistence between our country’s different faiths. I know that you have always been at the head of this process and continue to lead it today.
A kind word, advice and the opinions of our main faiths’ spiritual leaders are always important for people.
Thank you very much and congratulations!
Patriarch Kirill: Thank you, Mr President, for these kind words and for the direct part you play in helping relations between the church and state to develop so well at all levels. Relations between the church and society are also developing very much in the right direction.
The fact that society is consolidating around the fundamental moral values, without which individuals and society as a whole cannot exist, is the result of our joint efforts. If we build a strong foundation, our people, our families, our society and our country will also be strong.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, this is indeed the case.
<…>