Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Man is not a puppet in the hands of God

On March 10, 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, answered the questions of the leading television channel Ekaterina Gracheva in the program "Church and Peace" on the "Russia-24" channel on Saturdays and Sundays. E. Gracheva : Hello! This is the program "Church and Peace," in which we talk with the Metropolitan Volokolamsky Hilarion, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. Good afternoon, Bishop! Metropolitan Hilarion : Hello, Catherine! Hello, dear brothers and sisters! E. Gracheva : Vladyka, you attended the address of President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. This is not the first appeal you heard from the head of state. What are your impressions? Which theses made the greatest impression? How do you like the second part of this appeal, connected with the military power of our country, with our weapons? Metropolitan Hilarion : The media, first of all, concentrated on the second part of the appeal, which was largely addressed to the international community, and above all to the United States of America. The president very clearly spoke about who is responsible for a new round of the arms race. But as a representative of the Church, I would like to draw attention to the first half of the President's report, which was addressed primarily to citizens of our country and was socially oriented, that is, the President set very clear and ambitious goals for the country and the future government. One of these goals, which was voiced, is that by 2020 the growth rate of the Russian economy will outpace the world. This is indeed a very difficult task, because it requires mobilizing not only financial resources, but also human capital, about which the President spoke a lot in his speech. This applies to the demographic theme, and family support, and business support. The President said a lot about the fact that those people who are engaged in independent business should have appropriate conditions for the development of this business. The president touched on the topic of retirees. In short, the first part of the report, in my opinion, should open a new page in the history of our state, if what the President said will be implemented. E. Gracheva : In your opinion, at the moment there are no excesses in the internal policy of our country, say, in the direction of strengthening our defensive power, our weapons? So you are happy with the way priorities are distributed? Metropolitan Hilarion : I think that it is very important that the economic and financial strategy of the state be balanced so that there is no bank in either direction. It is very important that the state and the new government that comes after the election of the President be targeted specifically at people, so that the government first of all responds to the needs of people, taking them into account in their strategy, tactics and politics. E. Gracheva : Without weapons there would be no peaceful victories. And when the fraternal peoples did not have enough of their defense power, Russia was connected. Russia also helped with its armament. So, in particular, it was in the XIX century, when our country helped in the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke. Patriarch Kirill recently visited this country. Disappointment with the fact that they have now begun to share in nationalities those nations that participated in the liberation of the country - the Patriarch spoke about this at a meeting with President Rumen Radev. And how many countries now, according to the Patriarch, in the opinion of the Russian Orthodox Church, are inclined to rewrite the general history? Metropolitan Hilarion : To some extent this applies to all the countries of the so-called post-Soviet space and all the countries of the former Warsaw bloc, which today have almost unanimously joined NATO's military bloc. How does this rewrite history? If you take the example of Bulgaria, a few years ago at the celebrations on the occasion of another anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke, Russia was not called at all. But in fact, Russia declared war on Turkey, it was Russia that liberated Bulgaria. And who is the monument in the very center of Sofia? Alexander II the Liberator, the Russian Tsar. Who on every Liturgy at the Great Entrance is commemorated for the repose? Alexander II, the King of Liberator. In the Russian army there were representatives of different nationalities. Romania contributed to the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke. But it was the Russian army that was the main force that ensured this victory. And when a lot of people gathered waving Bulgarian and Russian flags, greeting the Bulgarian and Moscow Patriarchs, it caused very positive emotions. But when, in the evening of the same day, something resembling a military parade was taking place near the monument to Alexander the Liberator in Sofia proper, there rhetoric was completely different. And there were mentioned different peoples, different states, which caused a fair criticism of the Patriarch, who saw in this the tendency characteristic of today's European Union. This tendency is precisely to silence Russia's role in such key events in European history as, for example, the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke. E. Gracheva : At the same time, there is some ideological contradiction, because with the unwillingness of Eastern Europe to share our common history with us, it is the countries of Eastern Europe that consider Russia part of this general political system called "Europe." According to the latest poll conducted in February, half of the French and British (65 and 52 percent) said that in their opinion Russia is not a European country. In Germany, 46 percent agree with this. And in Poland, 77 percent of the population believe that Russia is Europe. That is, the more east, the higher the percentage. How do you explain this ideological discrepancy? Metropolitan Hilarion : Today the notion of Europe is very often applied exclusively to the European Union. Russia is not a member of the European Union, and judging by how events develop, it does not plan to join it. But Europe is not only the European Union. Europe is, above all, a cultural and spiritual identity. And it is impossible to imagine, for example, European art without the novels of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, without the music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, without that colossal contribution that Russia has made specifically to the development of European, and not Asian culture. And those people who come into contact with this culture understand that Russia is part of that cultural space that we call Europe. E. Gracheva : The West has recently been increasingly inclined to keep silent about not only the military achievements of our country, but also sports victories. And yet, the Olympics in Pyeongchang will be strongly remembered by fans all over the world. For our country - it is, above all, a triumph in figure skating. This, of course, is a gold medal in hockey. Patriarch Cyril even commented on this victory and called it nothing but a miracle in a good way. Before the World Cup, there are less than a hundred days left. What to say, not so we are strong in football, like in hockey. Many fans are skeptical that it is only with God's help that you can win in this championship. Before the events that are responsible for the country, like the Olympics, as the World Cup, the Patriarch conducts some, perhaps, special prayer services? Metropolitan Hilarion : Our sports teams are often accompanied by priests. Priests are next to our athletes and when they train, and when they enter the field, and when they return from the field. This is not due to the fact that the Church is getting involved in a topic that is not peculiar to it, but because most of our athletes are believers. This was very clearly shown by the events of the last Olympiad. When our athletes, after an outstanding victory, contacted the Patriarch and he congratulated them, they asked for his blessings. And even those interviews that were shown on TV channels with our athletes often included the mention of God, of prayers, that is, it is clear that our athletes, at least the majority of them, are believers and people who perceive their work as a service to their Fatherland, and they ask God for help. And it is no coincidence that after the Olympics, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill served a thanksgiving service, because our athletes were in difficult conditions, and despite this, they with honor passed the test. E. Gracheva : Even Yelena Isinbayeva, who before every landing on her jump, prayed and withdrew from the press, did not communicate with anyone. Canadian athletes at this Olympiad also surprised and gave cause for discussion of the media. They sang a modified version of their hymn - a gender-neutral version, where the phrase "patriotism is the lot of your sons" was reduced to "our destiny." It would seem that this is a special case. But no. The FRGs go even further and make a curtsey towards the sex minority at the state level. The Commissioner for Gender Equality of the Federal Republic of Germany Christine Roze-Mehring calls for changing the text of the national anthem to gender neutral. Are you surprised by such news about Germany or not? Metropolitan Hilarion : I belong to a generation that remembers very well that such an influence of ideology on the development of the country, on its historiosophy, on morality, when certain ideological prerequisites are laid as a certain basis, and then on this basis laws, rules, and Literary works, cinema, and even musical art are obliged to adapt to this ideology. We are now observing the same thing in the European Union. And every time I visit this or that European country, I am convinced of this again and again. That is, those ideological stamps that now dominate the European consciousness, which are imposed through the media, through various kinds of propaganda, are based on a specific ideology. At its core, this ideology is godless. Moreover, in my opinion, this ideology is anti-human, because, for example, what is said today in Europe about the family, on the equality of the sexes, undermines the foundations of human life, undermines such a fundamental institution as a family on which the life of mankind has held for centuries . E. Gracheva : I must say that there are other examples. For example, the Prime Minister of Hungary called Christianity the last hope of Europe. Do you think that countries of the former socialist camp can unite in upholding traditional values ​​and generally unite on the basis of common faith, Christianity? Metropolitan Hilarion : I do not think that we can talk about the countries of the former socialist camp, because what Prime Minister Orban says is not ideology, but, in a good sense, political pragmatism. This politician is one of the few now in Europe who is well aware of what the policy of European states, including the migration policy, will lead to in the long term. This, in fact, is a suicide for that Europe, which was just created as something unified for several centuries. E. Gracheva : In Instagram there was an account, which is called the Patriarch's day. It promises to publish informal moments from the life and ministry of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. If Facebook is in the understanding of many - it's more communication and texts, and it's not a secret that many of the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church are active users of such social networks, then the Intragram is more images, pictures. Why does the Church want us to "spy" for the Patriarch? Metropolitan Hilarion : I do not think that someone will oversee the Patriarch, but the personality of the Patriarch is of great interest. People are interested in how the Patriarch behaves himself in everyday life, as he, for example, goes on walks, talks on the phone. I do not think that the whole life of the Patriarch will show this way, but, probably, on this account will show some moments from his life. E. Gracheva : We often talk about new products in the program, say, in the latest IT technologies. You are an active user of these systems. In general, you approve of this progress. I want to ask you: how do you feel about such applications as, for example, the voice assistant from "Yandex" "Alice", who even jokes can. It can be asked about God, about religion. "Alice, are you fasting?" - "Now yes. And what? "-" What faith do you profess? "-" It is better for you not to know. " "Do you believe in God?" - "I do not want to offend anyone, but not very much in Zeus and Apollo." What do you think about this "company" for the elderly and single people? Metropolitan Hilarion : I think that such applications are useful only if, for example, a person is lost and wants to know the way. Then this voice assistant can take him somewhere, that is, he can be useful as a kind of reference book. But I think it will be wrong if you start with such a robot communicate the way you communicate with people, ask about moral, religious issues, share your feelings, emotions, experiences. In the second part of the program, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk answered the questions of viewers who came to the website of the program "Church and Peace". Question : If God knows the future, does this mean that our destiny is predetermined? Metropolitan Hilarion : No, this does not mean that fate is predetermined, because the Divine omniscience is one thing, and our free will is another matter. I will give a simple example. Mom says to her son: if you go to the street without a hat on a cold day, you will catch a cold. The boy does not put on his hat, returns home with a cold. Is this foresight or predestination? On the one hand, mother knows her son well, she knows how he can act and knows what the consequences will be, and she tells him about it. On the other hand, it is in his power to put on a hat or not to wear a hat, obey Mom or not. This is a simple everyday example, but it illustrates our relationship with God. God foresees how we can act, but that does not mean that we should do just that. For example, Jesus Christ told the apostle Peter that when He was arrested, Peter would deny Him three times. But this did not mean at all that Peter had to renounce. Jesus just knew him very well. He knew about his infirmity, weakness, how he would react to the events that would occur, but the action itself depended on Peter himself: he could remember the prediction of Jesus and not renounce, but he still denied it. God sees the future as the present. But this does not mean that our future is predetermined. Our life consists of several components: one is the will of God, the other is our human will. If our will is in harmony with the will of God, then everything goes as God ordained us. And if our will is in conflict or in conflict with the will of God, then we ourselves are responsible for the consequences. God made man free. A person is not a puppet in the hands of God. Nothing is predetermined in human life. A lot depends on us. In order to learn the will of God, we must pray, read the Gospel, and in the situation of choice each time ask ourselves: but how would Jesus Christ have acted in my place?