Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Patriarch Kirill of Moscow" in English language version.
The attacks have become more prominent during the pre-election and post-election period", said the Supreme Church Council in a statement yesterday, apparently referring to both the performance by Pussy Riot and the scandals. "[This] shows their political and also anti-Russian motives.
Sorting through gifts he had received over the years, the patriarch discovered that he did indeed own the Breguet, Mr. Solovyov said. But he insisted that that he had never worn it and said he suspected that any photos of him wearing it had been altered with Photoshop.
Editors doctored a photograph on the church's Web site of the leader, Patriarch Kirill I, extending a black sleeve where there once appeared to be a Breguet timepiece worth at least $30,000. The church might have gotten away with the ruse if it had not failed to also erase the watch's reflection, which appeared in the photo on the highly glossed table where the patriarch was seated.
The ROC's close ties to the state were on display early in the Ukraine crisis when Kirill and the Russian Foreign Ministry issued nearly identical statements, warning against a confrontation and speaking of the larger Russia's "brotherly" Ukraine. When Russia sent its troops to Crimea, one of the justifications it used was an alleged threat to parishes there that were linked to Kirill's Moscow Patriarchate. Kirill's full title is "Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus", a reference to a medieval state in Kiev to which modern Russia traces its roots.
Mr. Putin, a former KGB officer, attends church services and portrays himself as a staunch defender of "Christian values". In return, the Orthodox Church frequently issues public statements of support for Kremlin policies. Most recently, a church spokesman described Russia's military campaign in Syria part of a "holy battle" against international terrorism.
