"I am convinced once again that the creation of many dioceses on the territory of our Homeland has activated powerful forces on the ground, intellectual and spiritual, which undoubtedly affect the change in the overall situation both in the regions and in the country as a whole," said His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, addressing the participants of the festive meal held on September 6, 2024, on the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Peter, Metropolitan of Kiev, Moscow and All Russia, the Wonderworker, at the end of the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin
"Governors come to me and tell me with pride: in the district center, where the bishop appeared, life is immediately revived. People come there, sponsors appear there, something is being built there. I think that now even the secular authorities, who are not very close to the Church, understand the significance of what happened as a result of the creation of dioceses in the hinterland, in places far from the center," His Holiness continued.
"Addressing each bishop who serves in such dioceses, I want to say: you are on the front line of the spiritual front. There are not always enough funds in the province, external support is not always provided, but the very existence of the diocese is a factor that concentrates spiritual, intellectual and even political forces," said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"The creation of such a large number of dioceses — we now have more than three hundred — was difficult to imagine until recently. But this is not a race for numbers, the least we thought about numbers, and most of all we thought about the fact that without a bishop there can be no effective church development — this is how the Orthodox Church works. Thanks to the creation of dioceses in these places far from the centers, people's lives are changing for the better, and in the end all this serves to strengthen our Fatherland — materially, spiritually, and politically. But our country needs it very much today," His Holiness noted.
"The Church stands guard over the spiritual and state interests of our people, and interaction with the state, or, as we say in church language, symphony, that is, harmony in the activities of state and church authorities, is one of the factors of tranquility and peace in our country," His Holiness Patriarch Kirill concluded.

According to the materials of the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia