President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has congratulated His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on His namesake Day.

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Vladimir Putin: Your Holiness, good afternoon!

Patriarch Kirill: Hello!

Vladimir Putin: Your Holiness, I would like to congratulate you on the day of your namesake, on the day of your holy patron saint, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril. As you know, he was not only the creator of the alphabet, in fact, the Russian language, but he was not accidentally called a philosopher, that is, he was a very deep, educated man.

Your Holiness, today we need your experience in building inter-church relations, and most importantly, building interfaith relations within the country is very important for us and for Russia, because it is always important and always necessary for us, and especially now. It is necessary to maintain the unity of the multinational and multi-religious Russian people.

Thank you very much for your efforts.

Patriarch Kirill: Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich, both for these words and for your leadership, and especially in relation to the attitude towards church life and the religious life of our people in general.

You are a person with a sensitive attitude to the religious factor, and the religious factor is one of the strongest. When people don't have enough ideological arguments, if we take the whole story, then this factor has always worked to fight the enemy and consolidate society.

And today, by the grace of God, Russia does not lose its religious beliefs, its faith. I don't want to compare our country with anyone, but this is a unique example of the civilizational development of a modern country that does not abandon the past, traditions, or its faith, while simultaneously developing science, art, sports, and everything that other countries are developing with no less, and even more often with great success.. And of course, this is your great contribution as the leader of our country.