The metropolitan urged to try to prevent different values from causing conflicts in society. Clashes and conflicts usually involve people who believe that they belong to different systems of public and religious values.
Metropolitan Cyril said the terrorist attack in Madrid was a tragedy that stunned the world. However, he warned the global community against a one-sided assessment of events of such a scale. "The Madrid tragedy is the talk of the whole world. But why is there so little talk about Minvody?" asked Metropolitan Cyril, meaning a commuter blast near the Russian town of Mineralniye Vody (North Caucasus), which claimed the lives of dozens of passengers last autumn.
When touching on the Kosovo conflict, the metropolitan said the Russian Orthodox Church was closely following the regional developments. He described the conflict as a politically charged affair, which also has an inter-faith cause.
Clashes between Albanians (Muslims) and Serbs (Christians), who constitute the ethnic minority, resumed in the Serbian province of Kosovo last week, after five years of relative calm. Albanians burnt down tens of Serbian villages and Orthodox churches. Thousands of Serbs had to abandon their homes.
The Moscow meeting will last into March 23.
