Q: What do you consider to be the most grievous personal drawback from which a Primate must be free?

A: A Primate has a very large responsibility and many duties. The majority of these duties is connected to immediate communication with people of all walks of life. In this situation, I believe, a Primate must first and foremost shun anger and irritation, because such vices, which might seem rather unimportant at first sight, might lead to rash and maybe even unfair decisions, which will burden the conscience and even harm people's souls.

 The sins of vanity and careerism are also very dangerous, because they might turn serving the Church and people into looking for earthly recognition and power, whereas a bishop's service is dying for the good of the flock every day. One of the Russian Patriarchs once said: "May my name perish in history, if it would do good for the Church". We must always remember that vanity will be broken against the rock of life anyway, but loyalty to God and selfless service to His Church will remain.

Q: What do you think is the most commendable quality in a person?

A: A person's qualities, their worthiness, is first and foremost the manifestation of their spiritual strength. That is why the highest worthiness lies in overcoming yourself for the sake of Christ, achieving the spirit's power over both the soul and the body, and the whole life. A worthy person must overcome the base in themselves, which threatens to turn them into a plaything for passions and elemental forces. That is why, for me, a person's main good quality is the unflinching readiness to follow God's commandments, and the spiritual efforts undertaken to achieve this.

Patriarch Alexii to Greek newspaper Vima,  08 January 2006

source:  http://eng.sedmitza.ru/index.html?did=1829