The Return of the Moscow Patriarchate
to the Holy Land "will have a beneficial effect and positive
consequences both for the spiritual life of our people, and for that of
the Orthodox in the Holy Land." Thus Kirill summarized the significance of his historic visit to Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan (9-14 November).
The Patriarch visited the region for the first time since he became the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2009. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had announced the visit, calling it the most important of its kind, after that of Benedict XVI in 2009.
Of course, the mission has had a weight on a religious level, but commentators have not failed to also detect a "less spiritual" note, linked to the wider political expansion of the Russian Church, carried out by Kirill with a force much greater than his predecessor Alexy II.
Intent on revitalizing its role as protector of Orthodoxy, even outside the borders of the Federation, the Patriarchate has reaffirmed its presence in one of the most important places in the whole of Christianity, in a time when the situation of Christians in Middle East is becoming more delicate, in the midst of war, terrorism and Islamic extremism.
Russians, who emigrated to Israel in the 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union are about 1,200,000. A very influential cultural minority in the area. Of these, about 300 thousand are Orthodox Christians, who see Moscow as a reference point. Not to mention the 120 thousand Arab Christians, who see Russia as a historical ally, but view the Patriarch of Kirill with suspicion, who is trying to contain what in ecclesiastical circles is called the Russians' "Arabization" of Orthodoxy in the region.
With stops in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Tiberias and the Jordan River, Kirill donated bells to the church of Saint John the Baptist in Jaffa, consecrated the All Saints church in Jerusalem and implied that, with the help of local governments, he will promote Russian pilgrimages to the Holy Land in every way, which have already increased by 600 thousand people a year, after the abolition of the visa regime with Israel.
During his visit to Jordan's 'House of the Russian pilgrim', the Patriarch stated clearly that the goal "is to increase the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Holy Land." "We do not mean a physical presence - he explained - what is important is to ensure the greatest possible number of pilgrims."
In this way, he pointed out, "we will increase Russia's ties with the countries where the holy places are." During his trip - called "non-political" by the spokesman of the Patriarchate - Kirill has, however, met the highest offices of state: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the Israeli president Shimon Peres, King Abdullah II of Jordan.
As in the former Soviet space, the Russian Church is conducting an expansionist policy that goes hand in hand with that of the Kremlin. Not surprisingly, the visit to the Holy Land comes at a time when Moscow is making its influence in the Middle East felt in the solution of the current Syria crisis.
The affirmation of the role of the Russian Patriarchate in the region also passes through economic aid. According to AsiaNews sources in the Orthodox world, the Patriarchate of Moscow is seeking to exploit the crisis in Greece to increase his influence over the Greek-orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which officially hosted Kirill on his journey.
One example is the story of the Holy Sepulchre, where precisely the intervention of the Russian Patriarch put an end to a dispute with Israeli Hagihon, to which the Orthodox were 1.8 million euro in debt for the supply of water.
The Israeli Minister of Tourism said that the debt was repaid and the spokesman of the Russian Patriarchate, Alexandr Volkov, did not fail to point out that it was "thanks to the authority" (and disposable income) of Kirill.