A gala reception was held in Bishkek on the occasion of the visit of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the Kyrgyz Republic. Patriarch Kirill arrived in Bishkek Patriarch Kirill in Kyrgyzstan

On Saturday, May 27, 2017, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' arrived at Manas airport, and from that moment his primate visit to the Kyrgyz Republic began.

The official delegation accompanying His Holiness included: Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Sergius of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archbishop of Pyatigorsk and Cherkessk Theophylact, temporary administrator of the Patriarchal Deanery of the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkmenistan; Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media V.R. Legoyda, head of the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', priest Alexander Volkov.

At the capital's Manas airport, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was met by: the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Bishop Daniel of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan and the clergy of the Bishkek diocese; Director of the State Commission for Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Zairbek Ergeshov, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Office of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Daniyar Sayakbaev, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism Baktybek Sekimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kyrgyz Republic A.A. Krutko and Russian diplomats.

Addressing media representatives at the airport, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted that this was his first visit to the Kyrgyz Republic.

“First of all, I came here to pray with Orthodox people, to see how the life of the Orthodox Church in Kyrgyzstan is developing. Kyrgyzstan is a very friendly country, where Russians and Kyrgyz people live in great friendship,” said His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church recalled that the outstanding Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov wrote in Kyrgyz and Russian. “This testifies to how mutually our cultures penetrate and what a great place the Russian language and Russian culture have in the life of the Kyrgyz people. All this awakens a feeling of great respect and hope that relations between our peoples will always remain good, regardless of how the political picture develops in the world,” he emphasized His Holiness.

“I would like to convey to all people living in Kyrgyzstan my wishes for peace, prosperity, prosperity, interethnic cooperation, so that God will preserve the land of Kyrgyzstan,” said His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in conclusion.

On Sunday, May 28, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated the completely rebuilt Bishkek Holy Resurrection Cathedral.

The consecration ceremony was attended by Bishop Daniel of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan, director of the State Commission for Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Zaiyrbek Ergeshov, clergy of the Bishkek diocese and the Central Asian Metropolitan District.

The arrival of Patriarch Kirill was long-awaited for numerous believers and Cossacks of Semirechye who came to the temple and took part in the procession after the consecration of the temple. Then the Primate of the Russian Church conducted the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church.

The Holy Resurrection Cathedral was built in 1945-1947. In the early 2000s, new buildings of the temple complex were erected here, including the diocesan spiritual and administrative center, a conference hall, a library, a historical museum, a Sunday school and an Orthodox gymnasium.

In the afternoon, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill consecrated the foundation stone in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on the site where the Orthodox gymnasium will be built.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized the importance of creating such educational institutions, since they will help form “a new generation of Orthodox people - well educated and able to actively participate in the life of society.”

It is planned that the Orthodox gymnasium will operate according to a special program that takes into account the educational standards of Russia and Kyrgyzstan. The educational institution will be located at the Cathedral of St. Prince Vladimir in Bishkek. It will be able to train 420 people at a time.

An Orthodox school has been operating in the Kyrgyz capital since 2008, but it is very small - only 120 children study there and only from grades 1 to 9.

During the visit, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill plans to visit the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, named after the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, where a presentation of the publication of his book “Freedom and Responsibility” in the Kyrgyz language will take place. The translation into the language of Manas and Aitmatov was prepared by the Russian-Kyrgyz Business Council with the assistance of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Bishkek and Kyrgyz Diocese.

This is Patriarch Kirill’s first visit to Kyrgyzstan. His visits to the country of Ala-Too were also planned in 2011 and 2016, but both times were postponed for objective reasons.

The 1996 visit of the previous Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Alexy II, to Kyrgyzstan had a great public resonance.

Then, for his visit, the capital authorities expanded the territory of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Bishkek. And in Karakol, on the eve of that visit in 1996, the Church of the Holy Trinity was returned to believers. Accordingly, Alexy II visited not only Bishkek, but also the Issyk-Kul region.

Patriarch Kirill planned to meet on May 29 with the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Atambaev Almazbek Sharshenovich and after this meeting to travel to the city of Karakol with a visit to the Church of the Holy Trinity.

One of the representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate on May 28, at the evening final formation of the Cossacks of the ALE "Union of Cossacks of Semirechye" of the Union of Cossacks of Russia and the SARTS MCC (Ataman Demchenko M.S.) highly appreciated their preparatory work done for the meeting of His Holiness, and the service for protecting public order in during the visit of Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church MP Kirill to the territory of the Temple complexes and to the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection. Ataman SKS Cossack Colonel Zuev A.M. and the military priest Archpriest Alexy Zaitsev warmly thanked the Cossack brothers for the many days of work done and worthy service for the Glory of God during the above events. The second main day of the visit passed calmly, without any incidents or incidents.

Based on materials from the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', the press and media of the Kyrgyz Republic, prepared,

Special Correspondent

independent magazine "Cossack Brotherhood"

F. Savchenko

Photo. Vasily Novikova

Meeting His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at Manas Airport

On May 28, 2017, in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, a gala reception was held on behalf of the visit of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

The event was attended by the head of,.

Also present were members of the official delegation accompanying His Holiness: Chairman; head of the Moscow Patriarchate; temporary administrator of the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkmenistan; chairman; supervisor .

The reception was attended by: Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic O.M. Pankratov; Advisor to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic M.A. Karybaeva; Minister of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic G.K. Kudaiberdieva; Director of the State Commission for Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Z.Zh. Ergeshov; Mayor of Bishkek A.S. Ibraimov; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kyrgyz Republic A.A. Cool; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Kyrgyz Republic A.S. Strachko; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kyrgyz Republic Peter Scholz; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kyrgyz Republic A.E. Bozzhigitov; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to the Kyrgyz Republic Sh.O. Meredov.

At the end of the reception, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, addressing those gathered, noted, in particular, that it was a great joy for him to visit the Kyrgyz Republic, where he had long wanted to visit.

His Holiness noted the high level of interaction between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and government authorities in the country and especially emphasized the importance of maintaining interreligious dialogue and peaceful coexistence, since today the religious factor is often used by destructive forces to incite interreligious and interethnic conflicts. “Therefore, we must update the tradition of good relations between religions as much as possible,” emphasized His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

On May 27, 2017, the Primate visit of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' to Kyrgyzstan began.

Addressing media representatives at the airport, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted that this was his first visit to the Kyrgyz Republic.

“First of all, I came here to pray with Orthodox people, to see how the life of the Orthodox Church in Kyrgyzstan is developing. Kyrgyzstan is a very friendly country where Russians and Kyrgyz live in great friendship,” said His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.

His Holiness recalled that the outstanding Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov wrote in Kyrgyz and Russian. “This testifies to how mutually our cultures penetrate and what a great place the Russian language and Russian culture have in the life of the Kyrgyz people. All this awakens a feeling of great respect and hope that relations between our peoples will always remain good, regardless of how the political picture develops in the world,” emphasized the Primate of the Russian Church.

Based on materials from the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

Photo: priest. Igor Palkin, Oleg Chernetsov

On Saturday, the primatial visit of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' to Bishkek began. This is the first visit of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to Kyrgyzstan. Tomorrow Patriarch Kirill will consecrate the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Bishkek and perform the Divine Liturgy there.

From 2009 to 2017, Patriarch Kirill visited 26 countries near and far abroad. From the republics of the former USSR, he visited Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine.

According to the 2016 census, in Kyrgyzstan, about 6% of the population (360,580 people) are Russian. According to the patriarch, the Russian Church supports compatriots abroad. And the current visit also pursues these goals.

I have never been to Kyrgyzstan. But, of course, I came first of all to pray with the Orthodox, to see how the life of the Orthodox Church in Kyrgyzstan is developing,” the patriarch said. - Kyrgyzstan is a friendly country. The Russian language occupies a very important place in the cultural life of Kyrgyzstan. It is enough to remember Chingiz Aitmatov, a wonderful Kyrgyz writer, on whose works we were brought up. This shows how our cultures interpenetrate. And all this awakens a feeling of great respect,” Patriarch Kirill said at Manas airport.

The Holy Resurrection Cathedral, which will be consecrated by the patriarch on Sunday, was built after the war - in 1945–1947. And in 1995, with the blessing of His Eminence Vladimir, Archbishop of Tashkent and Central Asia, construction of the diocesan spiritual and administrative center began in the church fence of the Resurrection Cathedral.

The main shrine of the Resurrection Cathedral is the relics of the venerable confessor Irakli of Issyk-Kul. They were moved from the village of Ananyevo on September 14, 2004 and placed in the altar of the Resurrection Cathedral.

Twice a year the relics were brought to the temple for public worship. On October 27, 2008, the relics of St. Heraclius were taken out of the altar and placed in a shrine with a canopy specially built for this purpose. Now the relics are constantly available to believers.

In the 2000s, the Resurrection Cathedral had already become not only a religious building, but a cultural center. Charity events, festivals, concerts, scientific conferences and educational events are regularly held here. Moreover, they are designed not only for parishioners, but also for all residents of the city.

During the first visit of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill to Kyrgyzstan, the ruling bishop of the republic, Bishop Daniel, in an interview with Interfax-Religion correspondent Elena Verevkina, spoke about how Orthodox believers live in this republic.

Vladyka, please tell us about the peculiarities of Orthodoxy on Kyrgyz soil. Do believers manage to avoid interreligious conflicts in everyday life?

Orthodoxy came to the Kyrgyz land along with the settlers. Russian settlers came to the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan 150 years ago, when individual Kyrgyz tribes, having accepted Russian citizenship, became part of the Russian Empire. Many immigrants from the southern regions of Russia, as well as from the Ural province, moved here with their carts, along with their families, for permanent residence. Naturally, the settlers brought the Orthodox faith to these lands. In the places where they settled, the first Orthodox chapels and churches appeared. This is how Orthodoxy came to Kyrgyz soil. In contrast to the aggressive policy of Western Christian religious missions, Orthodoxy came here peacefully, and its main goal was the spiritual nourishment of the Russian settlers who settled here. This played a historical role in interaction with Islam. For 150 years there has not been a single conflict on religious grounds, because Islam did not interfere in the affairs of the Russian population, and the Orthodox did not interfere in the affairs of the Kyrgyz. The current state of Kyrgyzstan was established largely thanks to the joint creative efforts of the Kyrgyz and Russian peoples on the basis of deep mutual respect, cultural interpenetration, taking into account religious and national characteristics, which, of course, was helped by the moral foundations of the deep faith of both the Orthodox and Muslim populations.

Are there any known cases when the Kyrgyz converted to Orthodoxy? Are there any indigenous people of the republic among your flock? I also saw Asian faces at the service...

There are, of course, but these are not only Kyrgyz. We have a multinational country. Along with the Kyrgyz, Dungans, Koreans, and other peoples are coming to Orthodoxy. But this is their voluntary doing - so to speak, the desire of the heart. There are also Russians who convert to Islam. For example, a girl married a Muslim and converted to Islam. There are such cases, but they are rather the exception.

On the streets of Bishkek you can hardly meet a woman dressed according to Muslim canons. Does this mean that the Kyrgyz practice a more secular Islam?

Yes, in most cases they adhere to their culture and age-old traditions. Of course, modern trends leave their mark. And young people are exposed to modern fashion. As for hijabs, the Kyrgyz as an ethnic group are very independent and original. They practice Islam, but there are few women wearing hijabs compared to other Muslim countries. Kyrgyz traditional clothing itself is quite closed and does not contradict the norms of Islam.

Muslims in Kyrgyzstan go to receive religious education abroad. Doesn't this pose a threat to the spread of religious extremism?

This is a common problem in both Russia and Kyrgyzstan. I would like to note that the local Muslim administration, headed by the mufti, is working to ensure that theologians and imams are cultivated locally.

It is known that Jehovah's Witnesses are active in Muslim villages, which sometimes leads to incidents when a person cannot be buried because he has ceased to be a Muslim, and the cemetery in the settlement is only Muslim. How is the fight against sects going?

First of all, we must be strong. Orthodox priests must be strong in spirit, preaching, and life in order for Orthodoxy to be attractive. Of course, it is necessary to preach among the Orthodox, protecting them from various sects, especially such dangerous ones as Jehovah's Witnesses. In terms of legislation, we respect human rights, but if these people begin to break the law, commit fraud with housing, and violate public order, then they are punished in accordance with the law. Of course, they greatly irritate the local population. Penetrating everywhere, they break indigenous foundations, traditions and rules. In Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan this is fraught with consequences. Including cases of burials of Kyrgyz who accepted a faith alien to their laws.

- In Russia it is prohibited by law...

Because the time has come. Gradually they are moving towards this too; this is indeed a very destructive sect. I am sure that the time has come for creation, and not destruction of religious and national traditions.

There was information that not far from Issyk-Kul, the authorities seized an old wooden temple and wanted to open a store there. This is true?

The situation has already become clearer. There is a historical temple in Issyk-Kul, one of the oldest on this earth. For us, 120-125 years is already history. The temple is wooden, it is located in Karakol and contains a great shrine for us. This is the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, a copy brought 120 years ago from Mount Athos as a gift to the Issyk-Kul Holy Trinity Monastery. One day the monastery was plundered and closed, but the icon miraculously survived and now adorns the temple in Karakol. And suddenly a misunderstanding happened around this temple. Due to a misunderstanding of the laws, the city mayor decided to illegally seize the lands belonging to the temple. Through the efforts of the legal service of the diocese and Kyrgyz government agencies, the conflict was settled. Not without the influence of our public. I hope that the mayor will apologize to the people, because he insulted not only Orthodox Christians, but also Muslims of Karakol. After all, everyone loves this temple, respecting its shrines. In addition, this is one of the main attractions of Issyk-Kul. Taking land around the temple, which belongs directly to the parish, in order to build shops there is lawlessness. On the contrary, we must preserve this land. This is a shrine for Orthodox Christians and a cultural heritage of Kyrgyzstan.

You have served in the diocese since 2014. What can you say about the Kyrgyz? What are they like, what is their main national feature?

Simple, kind people.

You are known as a reforming bishop; in a short period of time you have managed to do a lot for the diocese. What are your plans?

We are completing another temple in the name of the noble princes Boris and Gleb, which is located within the boundaries of Bishkek and is practically covered. Currently they are making domes for it.

We also want to build a temple in the resort town of Cholpon-Ata, where many Orthodox Christians will live. There is land. And there is hope that someone will respond, and there will be a temple there.

One of the most important projects for us is the construction of an Orthodox school (the foundation stone was consecrated by His Holiness the Patriarch), which will be not only a cultural, but also an educational center of Kyrgyzstan.

- How do you assess the results of Patriarch Kirill’s visit to Kyrgyzstan?

It is better, of course, to ask His Holiness himself about this. But I hope that we have pleased His Holiness the Patriarch, and he will rejoice at our successes. We are very grateful to him for giving us his high priestly blessing, setting us up and inspiring us for further work, this is very important moral and spiritual support. His instructions and advice are very important for us, this visit is very important for the Orthodox and, in general, for all residents of the republic. Believe me, everyone was looking forward to it. This is an important, inspiring, uplifting visit of a spiritual nature. The High Hierarch of Moscow, an outstanding man of the world, visited us, and his every word is a word of peace. None of the diplomats and political leaders have said or will say as the First Hierarch of Moscow did. From his words, we, believers, draw tolerance and love for each other; this is the basis of life for believers. His word was a solid, powerful impulse for peace to reign on our Kyrgyz land.