VZCZCXRO9016
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0708/01 0821301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231301Z MAR 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2502
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000708 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (ORIGINAL CABLE GARBLED) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KIRF SOCI RS
SUBJECT: NEW PATRIARCH SOUNDS PRO-AMERICAN AFTER RETURN OF 
HARVARD BELLS 
 
REF: 06 MOSCOW 12851 
 
MOSCOW 00000708  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  Ambassador Beyrle attended a ceremony on 
March 17 to commemorate the return of 18 bells from Harvard 
University to the Russian Orthodox Danilovskiy Monastery. 
Patriarch Kirill shared his appreciation for the U.S. 
Government's role in the process, proclaiming the ceremony as 
a new page in Russian-American relations.  Kirill met 
privately with Ambassador Beyrle after the ceremony, 
reiterating his desire to promote better bilateral relations. 
 End Summary. 
 
Bell-Ringing Ceremony Draws Hundreds 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU)  On March 17, several hundreds of Russian Orthodox 
faithful gathered at the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox 
Church (ROC), Moscow's Danilovskiy Monastery, to witness a 
ceremonial ringing of the Harvard bells.  The eighteen bells, 
purchased from the Soviet government in 1930 by American 
businessman Charles Crane for the price of the metal used to 
cast them, were returned to Danilovskiy Monastery on 
September 12, 2008, after almost 80 years at Harvard 
University (reftel).  Businessman Viktor Vekselberg, in 
cooperation with the Moscow City Government and the 
cultural-historical foundation "Time Connection," financed 
the return of the original bells, cast at the beginning of 
the 20th century.  President Reagan first approved of their 
return in 1988 during meetings with the Soviet leadership, 
and subsequent U.S. and Russian government and religious 
leaders continued the negotiations over the past 20 years. 
 
Kirill Pro-American in His Public Comments 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Prior to the bell-ringing ceremony, Kirill gave a 
two-hour liturgy in Holy Trinity of Danilov Monastery, 
broadcast to the masses in the courtyard square over 
loudspeakers.  Kirill then strode out to the packed courtyard 
and spoke to the crowd, praising the return of the bells as 
opening "a new page in U.S.-Russia relations" and asking for 
God's blessing so that "in the future, Russia and the U.S. 
can replenish one another with resources and talents, 
creating a common successful and just future in which 
spiritual and material things harmoniously co-exist."  The 
Patriarch generally thanked many for their efforts in 
facilitating the return of the bells, saluted the "will and 
heated faith" of all Russians, and called the event "symbolic 
of the triumph over human injustice," the landmark of a once 
Godless Soviet Union. 
 
Private Meeting with Ambassador 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Following the ceremonial tolling of the bells, 
Patriarch Kirill led a VIP procession through the crowd to 
his residence at the monastery for a reception.  Hosting over 
50 guests, Kirill thanked Vekselberg for his part in 
returning the bells, and handed certificates of his 
appreciation to Father Superior of Danilovskiy Monastery 
Aleksei, the Director of the Russian Federal Customs Service 
Andrei Belyaninov, and the head of the Civilizations 
Foundation.  Ambassador Beyrle joined Moscow Mayor Yuriy 
Luzhkov and Kirill in a private room for a separate private 
meeting,  during which Kirill reiterated his desire to see 
the Church help promote better U.S.-Russia relations.  Kirill 
reminded the Ambassador of their conversation at his 
enthronement February 1, when he said he hoped the ROC cuold 
play a useful role in this way, and pointed to his public 
remarks at the bells ceremony as evidence of his commitment. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  At one point in the conversation, Kirill reminisced 
about his past, telling the story of a project that he 
oversaw during his previous service as the Rector of the 
Leningrad seminary in the 1970s.  At that time, he funded the 
translation of numerous liturgical materials from foreign 
languages into Russian, paying a small refusenik and foreign 
dissident community in Leningrad to do the translations 
before Russian security services discovered his activities. 
Laughing, Kirill said that the Church subsequently sent him 
to Smolensk, where he served as Metropolitan for over 20 
years. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Kirill's renowned charisma, bolstered by an 
unexpected sly sense of humor, was much in evidence during 
the private meeting with Beyrle and Luzhkov. More important, 
though, were the tone and substance of his public remarks 
 
MOSCOW 00000708  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
(carried widely in Russian media) about the "new page" in 
U.S.-Russian relations that we hope will resonate with the 
generally conservative community of Orthodox faithful here 
who are probably less influenced by similar positive signals 
being sent by the political leadership.  End comment. 
BEYRLE