Patriarch Kirill: Russian Orthodox Church must hold the office and the Internet
MOSCOW, 25 Jul — RIA Novosti. The Russian Orthodox Church must fulfill her service in the virtual world on the Internet, there is not need to run away, said the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill in an interview with the Romanian edition of “Q Magazine” on the eve of his visit to Romania on 27-28 October.
On the question of how the Church relates to the Internet and to the virtual world, he replied that the Internet itself is “neutral technical tool that can be turned to good or evil, depending on who’s coming into this space and what it will do.”
“Of course, in the global network there are many disgusting, bad, wicked, criminal, sometimes — as in the world generally. It is important to remember the dangers that may be expected. In the web you can stumble on many distorted, often outright false messages that are specifically designed to annoy people, to confuse and to awaken feelings is not good. Know all about appear from time to time waves of mass hysteria, when people share their ridiculous rumors, “fake news,” the Patriarch said, an interview which leads to his press service.
According to the Primate, the ease and impunity of the Internet encourages irresponsibility, when in the electronic communication men to accept rudeness and aggression, which never would have allowed themselves in normal life.
Christians, he noted, “are also susceptible to all these temptations”. The Patriarch in this regard, recalled the words of Christ that “by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned”.
“But Christians are commanded to flee from the world. We are commanded to go into all the world preaching the good news of Christ, who provides forgiveness and new life. God wants all men to be saved. The Church appeals to all people, including those whom we can meet on the Internet and anywhere else. Therefore, the Church can and should serve in a global network, preaching the word of God and testify of the truth. It should, however, understand that what we do in the virtual world, focused on the real world. Each network user is a human being, not a virtual object”, — said the Patriarch.