VZCZCXRO7182
RR RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0197/01 0281615
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281615Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1668
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 000197 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL RS SOCI
SUBJECT: KIRILL ELECTED 16TH RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH 
 
REF: MOSCOW 106 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church 
(ROC) gathered on January 27 at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ 
the Savior to elect Acting Patriarch Metropolitan Kirill as 
the Church's 16th Patriarch.  Seventy-two percent of 
delegates picked Kirill, who deftly used his position and the 
media during the race to prevail over his sole competitor 
Metropolitan Kliment.  World religious leaders and Russian 
government officials congratulated Kirill, with particular 
praise coming from the Vatican against the backdrop of 
improving Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and Russian Orthodox 
Church relations.  The election, the first religious event 
widely broadcast throughout Russia, drew vast media 
attention, but also a few protesters, and an alleged 
temporary closing of a separatist church website.  Pundits 
debated the future course of the ROC under the new Patriarch, 
naming reconciliation with the RCC and unity with the 
Ukrainian Orthodox Church as his top priorities, and 
questioning to what degree would the ROC cooperate with the 
Kremlin.  End Summary. 
 
Charismatic Over Conservative 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  In a landslide victory on January 27, the Local 
Council of the ROC chose the charismatic and liberal 
Metropolitan Kirill over conservative Metropolitan Kliment as 
the 16th Russian Patriarch, positioning the Church for 
greater engagement domestically and abroad.  The voting 
lasted approximately four hours, culminating in an 
announcement at 2200 in the main hall of Christ the Savior 
Church, temporarily provisioned with voting booths for the 
occasion.  The Acting Patriarch (Locum Tenens) Kirill drew 
support from 72 percent of the delegates, receiving 508 of 
the 702 votes cast at Christ the Savior Cathedral in central 
Moscow.  Kirill's sole competitor on the ballot, the 
conservative Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk, 
tallied only 169 votes, or 24 percent.  Election 
administrators declared another 23 ballots invalid.  Kirill 
and Kliment were the only two candidates because the third 
candidate selected by the Bishops' Council on January 25, 
Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, withdrew from the 
race just hours ahead of the final vote and encouraged his 
supporters to vote for Kirill.  Although ROC rules allowed 
for the possible introduction of a fourth candidate on the 
ballot, should that person receive the support of 50 percent 
of the Local Council, no other contenders challenged Kirill 
or Kliment. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Even though most theologians and media outlets 
listed Kirill as the frontrunner, none expected the margin of 
victory to be so wide.  While Kirill received 72 percent of 
the final vote in the Local Council, he pulled in only 49 
percent of the ballots during the earlier Bishops' Council 
(reftel), a likely consequence of many bishops voting in 
favor of their local hierarchs.  Several journalists 
commented that Kirill completely outplayed Kliment in the 
media sphere, skillfully utilizing his role as Acting 
Patriarch to hold widely-broadcast holiday religious 
services, ecumenical seminars, and press conferences in the 
run-up to the election.  A January 28 Kommersant article 
pointed to the early elections, held only seven weeks after 
Aleksey's death, as an advantage for Kirill in that it 
prevented any serious competitor from launching a 
full-fledged informational campaign to counter him.  Other 
analysts attributed Kirill's victory, in part, to 
Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv and All Ukraine's decision to 
withdraw from the race, ultimately fracturing the otherwise 
united support of the Ukrainian delegation and strengthening 
Metropolitan Kirill's support base, according to a January 19 
Kommersant article. 
 
Vatican "Rejoices" Over News of Kirill 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  While many religious and human rights officials 
provided conservative well wishes to Kirill after his 
election, a Roman Catholic Church (RCC) spokesman said the 
Vatican "rejoiced" over the news.  Vatican spokesman in 
Moscow Rev. Federico Lombardi said Kirill was "esteemed in 
the Vatican," and hoped his service would deepen the level of 
collaboration and understanding between the churches, 
according to the Associated Press.  Other religious leaders 
offered their congratulations, including Chief Rabbi of 
Moscow Beryl Lazar, who expressed appreciation for Kirill's 
work at the inter-religious council.  Head of Russian 
Buddhists Pandito Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheyev praised the 
ROC's selection, saying that Kirill "will contribute to the 
further development of tolerance in Russian society."  Human 
rights activist Lyudmilya Alekseyeva took a different tack, 
telling Interfax news agency that the ROC should "instill 
 
MOSCOW 00000197  002 OF 003 
 
 
serenity and tolerance in its congregation," while hoping 
that the Church would remain separate from the state. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Both Medvedev and Putin called Kirill to offer him 
their best wishes, noting the importance of the ROC to the 
state.  Medvedev sent a statement to the Local Council, 
saying that he hoped Kirill would "further develop the 
fruitful cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church and the 
state."  For his part, Kirill remarked in previous weeks that 
church-state relations should be founded on "mutual 
non-interference in each other's affairs," suggesting the 
possibility that friction existed in their outlooks.  Russian 
news daily Gazeta suggested on January 28 that Kirill had 
grown closer to both Medvedev and Putin in recent months, 
while suggesting that the defeated Kliment would probably 
find a new role with government support, possibly with 
support from First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva.  Levada Center's 
Boris Dubin noted to us on January 28 that the state cannot 
afford to ignore the church, as it was one of three 
institutions (the others being the president and the army) 
that people trusted, especially since the new patriarch will 
lead 165 million believers worldwide (approximately 100 
million of whom are in Russia) from 157 dioceses in over 60 
countries. 
 
Nashi Supporters Prevent Protests 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Between 200 and 300 people, including members of 
Kremlin-backed youth group Nashi's Orthodox Corps, gathered 
near Christ the Savior Cathedral on the morning of the 
Bishops' Council to deter anti-ROC protests.  Nashi's 
Orthodox Corps, led by Boris Yakimenko, waved supportive 
banners and placards outside the church and the nearby 
Friedrich Engels monument, with slogans reading "May the Holy 
Spirit Point to a Worthy Man" and "We are for a United 
Church."  Director of the Moscow branch of the Union of 
Orthodox Citizens Kirill Frolov added that "our goal is to 
demonstrate that the smear campaign against Metropolitan 
Kirill is a campaign against the ROC."  Approximately 30 
supporters of defrocked Bishop Diomid of Chukhotka, described 
by Interfax news agency as "belligerent women in headscarves 
and ragged men with beards", quarreled with police near the 
entrance to the church without incident.  Moscow Police Chief 
Vladimir Pronin reported that 12,000 law enforcement officers 
would be involved in election and enthronement proceedings 
until February 3, with over 250 officers set to guard local 
churches from attacks by vandals or youth opposed to Church 
hypocrisy. 
 
Wide Media Coverage, With Exceptions 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Several Russian media outlets provided live news 
coverage of the Patriarchal election procedure, including 
leading television broadcasters Channel One, Rossiya, and 
Vesti as well as radio stations Voice of Russia and Radio 
Rossiyi.  The new Orthodox television station Spas (Savior) 
also covered the Local Council meeting, using footage from 
Vesti news channel.  With the rise of importance of Russian 
Orthodoxy in the country, so too the number of Russian 
Orthodox media outlets has risen.  Approximately 3,500 
Russian Orthodox blogs and hundreds of newspapers and 
magazines covered the Moscow Patriarchate's activity in 2008. 
 The most successful Orthodox magazine, according to a 
December 25 New York Times article, has been "Foma," with a 
staff of 30 and a monthly budget of over USD 100,000, run by 
its Chief Editor Vladimir Legoyda.  Financed by sponsors and 
some advertising, the article noted that Foma's usual print 
run of 30,000 exceeded that of the official ROC newspaper 
Tserkovny Vesnik, which routinely printed 20,000 copies. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Religious analysis website www.credo-portal.ru 
Deputy Chief Editor Vladimir Oyvin told us that special 
services blocked access to his website on the eve of the 
Bishops' Council "at the request of the Russian Orthodox 
Church."  He added that authorities restricted access to the 
official website of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church 
(ROAC), the home page for a forum of supporters for Bishop 
Diomid.  The Credo portal, known for providing critical 
commentary of the Moscow Patriarchate, last faced a shutdown 
during the Kyiv celebrations surrounding 1020th Anniversary 
of the Baptism of Holy Rus in July 2008.  Deacon Kurayev 
labeled the Credo portal an "anti-Kirill" site, perhaps 
suggesting that Kirill supporters leaned on officials in 
order to block it. 
 
The Future ROC 
-------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Charting the Church's future course featured 
prominently in media debate prior to the election, especially 
 
MOSCOW 00000197  003 OF 003 
 
 
with regard to the ROC's possible reconciliation with the 
Roman Catholic Church (RCC) after the Christian schism of 
1054 that separated Christianity into Eastern and Western 
branches.  While Kirill's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in 
the Vatican on December 2007, as the head of the ROC's 
foreign ministry equivalent, represented growing clergy 
interest in finding a common ground with the RCC, 
Patriarch-elect Kirill clarified on January 27 that he would 
not meet the Pope unless tensions between the faiths are 
resolved.  The main sticking point in discussions between the 
Vatican and Russian Orthodox officials remained the ROC's 
complaint that the RCC continued its attempts to convert 
Orthodox believers to Catholicism on the ROC's traditional 
territory.  Deacon and theologian Andrey Kurayev commented to 
Kommersant on January 28 that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church 
(UOC) stood as the biggest challenge for the Moscow 
Patriarchate, namely because of dual pressure from 
Constantinople and President Yushenko to move the UOC under 
Constantinople's authority.  The UOC also faced a separatist 
element inside the UOC itself, which hopes to move out from 
under the Moscow Patriarchate's authority.  UOC delegate to 
the Local Council Archimandrite Antony called on Kirill to 
unite the ROC on January 27, in hopes that all could overcome 
a potential split.  Kirill also needs to turn his attention 
homeward, as 69% of Russians could not name him in a January 
22 VTsIOM poll. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU)  The current economic crisis and demographic 
quagmire in Russia will absorb much of Kirill's energy, 
drawing his attention away from past ecumenical tasks abroad. 
 While his intelligence and charisma represent beacons to 
attract Orthodox believers in a declining Russian population, 
the Church seems ill-equipped to appeal significantly to 
youth accustomed to the consumer lifestyle he condemns as a 
"Western" affront on Christianity.  Kirill's complaints that 
courses teaching the fundamental principles of Russian 
Orthodoxy have stalled, and that legal foundations for the 
work of clergy in the military have not developed quickly 
enough, indicate his ambition to push religion into core 
state functions.  Whether Kirill's independent spirit and 
penchant for separation of church-state functions will openly 
collide with a Kremlin accustomed to Church subservience 
remains an issue that we will continue to follow closely. 
BEYRLE