ROC Primate: One should not use split in Ukraine for political ends

Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill, on the holiday of Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus Peter, who became the first Moscow saint, reminded of continual attempts in Ukraine to exploit various church institutes, including the Constantinople Patriarchate, in order to destroy a “spiritual cohesion of the Holy Rus.” It is reported by RIA News.

He reminded that the whole life of Kiev Metropolitan, who had moved the Chair first to Vladimir and then, upon request of Great Prince Ivan Kalita – to Moscow, was devoted to “preservation of the unity of the Holy Rus, elimination of controversies among princes, shaping of the Russian spirit and establishment of the Russian Orthodoxy.”

Having died in 1326, as early as in a year Metropolitan Peter was canonized upon request of Ivan Kalita. There is not a single saint in the Russian Church to be canonized within such a short period of time. Right after he had reposed in the Lord, there began healing miracles at the burial place of the Metropolitan, laid upon request of the saint in Kremlin-based Assumption Cathedral.

The commemoration day of Saint Peter is celebrated on January 3.

According to the UOJ, VR Speaker got down to organizing a meeting of the Council of Churches with Patriarch Bartholomew.