Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Patriarch Kirill Asks EU President to Value Europe's Christian Heritage

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia hopes that Herman van Rompuy's promotion to the European Union (EU) president will help to strengthen spiritual values on the continent.

"I hope that realizing your high authority, you will pay attention to value dialogue of European international structures with Europe's traditional religious communities, including the Russian Orthodox Church," the Patriarch said in his message to van Rompuy, published by the patriarchal press service today.

The Russian Church Primate said that the dialogue "has already started" and expressed hope that "it will make us understand that it is impossible even to think about the future of the European continent without Christian heritage."

Patriarch Kirill's message to the EU president may have been sparked by a decision made by the EU-affiliated European Court of Human Rights several weeks ago, in which it ruled that crucifixes must be removed from classrooms in Italy, because they violate a student's right to religious freedom.

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