Patriarch Kirill, addressing the congregation who had gathered in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the New Year's prayer service, said that he would pray with them for peace.
“We will pray for peace in the upcoming year, for internecine strife to come to an end, that good relations between countries and peoples will be restored, and divisions and schisms in the Orthodox Church will end,” the head of the Russian Orthodox Church announced.
Patriarch Kirill noted that he would like God to make "stronger and wiser" the President of Russia, the state and the army, give the Russian Orthodox Church the strength to "stand on spiritual guard, lead the people to salvation both in the future century and in the present century, so that all misfortunes and sorrows bypassed our people and our country.
Also at the New Year's prayer service, believers prayed for the unity of the church.
