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Lukashenka lauds Russian Orthodox Church

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Monday lauded the Russian Orthodox Church's role in what he described as maintaining peace and concord in society, and criticized the Western civilization, BelaPAN said.

The Belarusian leader made the remark while meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (Cyril I) and other top Orthodox clerics, who had arrived in Minsk to take part in the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Christianization of Russia (Kievan Rus).

Mr. Lukashenka said that the Western world was experiencing an "extremely deep moral and spiritual crisis." "And it happened in an era when the industry and technologies made an incredible leap, which it seemed could secure well-being for the entire humankind," the government's news agency BelTA quoted him as saying.

According to Mr. Lukashenka, "it is now that they have realized that man shall not live by bread alone, that not only material wealth determines people's calm and prosperity." "Life itself makes us make our choice again, look for solid spiritual waymarks, determine a system of values," he said.

He said that the Belarusians supported the humanitarian values of Christianity that had become the moral foundation of a normal civilized society.

Mr. Lukashenka lavished praise on the Russian Orthodox Church for having a "constructive stance" that "helps citizens keep loyalty to the common historical roots and ancestors' good precepts." "This is a powerful contribution to the integration processes that are developing in the ex-Soviet territory," he said. "The shared faith that underlies Slavic cultures draws us closer to each other and makes us more understandable to each other. No borders can divide the deep unity that grows out of our history."

Mr. Lukashenka expressed a high opinion of relations between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus, and said that the number of believers in the country was constantly rising.

The meeting came days after Mr. Lukashenka called for the Russian Orthodox Church to reform its practices, from its language to the duration of services.