Some interesting comments on Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, back in April 2008 when he was still Metropolitan Kirill, in a cable from the U.S. embassy in Moscow published by Wikileaks:
¶8.
(C) Kirill seemed to be in good health was preoccupied as always with
the, in his view, excessive emphasis on the individual in the West, and
stressed the need to harmonize traditional human rights concerns with
“morality and ethics.” Economic progress had been a two-edged sword for
Russia, Kirill thought. With prosperity, Russians had “lost something”
and Kirill, who is Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, pointed to
less prosperous Smolensk as “better preserved” than Moscow or St.
Petersburg.
¶9.
(C) Kirill spoke highly of a UN-sponsored effort to bridge the gap
between East and West by seeking an alliance of civilizations. Kirill
was attempting to interest the UN in his efforts to sponsor ecumenical
dialogue especially, he said, in the Middle East. As he has in past
conversations, Kirill contrasted Roman Catholic Pope Benedict favourably
with his predecessor John Paul II, and again held out the prospect of
significant improvement in Russian Orthodox – Roman Catholic relations.
Also on the ecumenical front, Kirill reported to the Ambassador efforts,
via the Russian Orthodox Church of America and the National Council of
Churches, to reach out to Protestant denominations in the U.S.
SIC: Reuters/INT'L