Patriarch Kirill’s book ‘Think about the Future of Humanity’ published in Serbian

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s book entitled ‘Think about the Future of Humanity’ has become available to Serbian readers.

Its Russian version came out in April 2018 in Moscow Patriarchate Publishers. The translation for publishing by the Moscow Representation of the Serbian Orthodox Church was made by Bishop Anthony of Moravici, rector of the representation and Patriarch of Serbia’s representative to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

In his book, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church analyses the state of society today, Russian and Western, and comes to the conclusion that a broad spectrum of human existence has been plagued with moral corrosion. His Holiness finds the origins of the moral decay in the Renaissance when the reformation of the Church began in the West and led to a multitude of schisms. Gradually the value of Christian traditions were lost to be replaced by the idea of anthropocentrism, which in the Age of Enlightenment led to the declaration of individual freedom as predominant over all. The notion of sin was blurred; humanity was turning away from God. At present, the Tradition and traditional morality is being replaced by a secular system of values, an idea emphasizing human rights.

In Patriarch Kirill’s opinion, liberalism occupies too large a place in today’s life; it is based on the substitution of the notion of freedom for the notion of sin. In many European countries today, it is impossible even to mention and condemn sin as it is forbidden legally. At the same time, Christian traditions are trampled for the sake of supposed tolerance: schoolchildren are forbidden to wear small crosses, Christmas is gradually turning into a secular feast that has almost nothing to do with Christ, and attempts were made to prohibit installing Christmas trees in city streets. What is asserted is the human freedom to live by passions, the right to sin without repentance, and if in doing so one does not violate law, one does harm only to oneself, not one’s neighbour, as it becomes exclusively one’s personal affair. However, the ideas of extreme individualism cripple not only a fallen individual but also the whole society by liberating him or her from now unnecessary and even impeding morality, which leads to a decay of such fundamental institutions as family and school.

The world has long lived by various phobias; the internet, literature and cinematography are full of them - Islamophobia, homophobia, etc. However, at present a new notion has developed - Christianophobia. Under the pretext of protecting religious minorities, Christians, who make up a majority in Europe, have begun to be oppressed.

Suddenly Christians have found themselves in a very vulnerable situation. The moral norms, which seemed to be unshakable, are thwarted. Asserted and approved legally are same-sex marriages, euthanasia not only for adults but also for children, abortions. No help come from thousands-strong rallies, nor protests of believers, nor references to Holy Scriptures and the Tradition. Politicians, laying special stress on the multiculturalist and multi-religiousness of modern society, are gradually forcing out the Christian culture - the basis on which Europe has grown and brought forth fruit for so many centuries. Dechristianization has become a problem of world outlook for the whole globe and it is on its solution that the future of humanity depends.

His Holiness is confident that the Church should not stand aside from solving this problem and that, though the ideal of liberalism has been supported by many worthy people, it is failing today. What has happened is a fracture caused by the fact that the philosophy of liberalism has legalized sin by actually excluding from life the notions of good and evil. The Church is called to preserve the spiritual and cultural tradition and say to society the truth about what is unlawful. Concern for the development of human personality is also a task of the Church, as she should give people lessons of love, charity and compassion emulating the Saviour Himself and His holy apostles. In His Holiness’s opinion, the future is impossible without prayer and belief in intransient values defined by the Lord Himself, the Official Portal of the Russian Orthodox Church communicates with reference to the information from the Moscow Representation of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

DECR Communication Service