The chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, answers questions from the 'Literaturnaya gazeta' weekly, November 2-8, 2005

Alexander Tsypko, LG political observer: I will reveal a secret: I am the author of the idea about common human values, which was voiced in Gorbachev's report to the 27th Party Congress. And my question concerns the blood-and-guts struggle of Christian religions. I am fully aware that the idea of ecumenism, a change of the canon as it was formulated by Vladimir Solovyev who advocated the unification of Christian religions in a single whole is a dangerous thing. The civilizational and cultural codes are already held by Christian religions, and if they are broken the whole human culture can break down. But I do not understand why Christian churches do not feel this danger and do nothing to oppose this liberal anthropocentrism which is actually ousting Christianity from Europe. Why do Christian churches do nothing to develop a common policy for saving not just Christianity but the common human morality and culture? Is it possible to do something to solve this problem?

Your humble servant was that person to whom the Pope Benedict XVI granted a private audience the day after his enthronement. We spoke not only about this. The Catholic and the Orthodox Churches in today's world are natural and, it seems, the only allies in the tough struggle waged between representatives of secular liberalism infected, as it is with bacillus of self-destruction, and bearers of the forward-looking idea of human salvation. And there is an experience of this work. Thus, when the draft European Constitution was prepared, we entered into an intensive dialogue with the Catholic Church and reached mutual understanding on this problem.

Source: Europaica 79  www.orthodoxeurope.org