Russian Patriarch Urges Church Posts on Internet; In Effort to Combat "Lies, Hypocrisy, and Hatred"

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia yesterday lamented a high number of anti-church Internet posts, and said the Russian Orthodox Church he leads should be present in social networks to tell the truth to its audience, the RIA Novosti (Russian) website reports today (February 3, 2013).

"Blogs and social networks give us new opportunities for the Christian mission" at a time when the Orthodox Church comes under attacks more often than before, the patriarch said. "Not to be present there means to display our helplessness and lack of care for the salvation of our brothers."

"Now that social media shows a huge interest -- although not always a sound one -- in church life, our duty is to convert it for a good cause, to create conditions for young people to know about Christ, know the truth about the life of people inside the Church," Patriarch Kirill said.

"When a person makes a query on church life in an Internet search engine, he finds a lot of lies, hypocrisy, and hatred," the patriarch said at a meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church's Bishops Council in downtown Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. "These are the visible results of activity by the enemy of mankind," he added.