His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrates his 65th birthday on November 20. Following a church tradition, a patriarch’s birthday is not widely celebrated as it is considered a private holiday.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrates his 65th birthday on November 20. Following a church tradition, a patriarch’s birthday is not widely celebrated as it is considered a private holiday. As a rule, the church honors its leader on the day of his patron saint. Patriarch Kirill celebrates his birthday on May 24, the day of the Solun Brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Patriarch Kirill (secular name Vladimir Gundyayev) was born on November 20, 1946, in Leningrad into a priest’s family. In 1965, after graduating from secondary school, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary and then the Leningrad Theological Academy, which he finished with distinction in 1970.
In 1969, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod tonsured him a monk with the monastic name Kirill.
Photo: July 12, 2011. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performs divine service on the 450th anniversary of St. Basil’s Cathedral.
Photo: July 12, 2011. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performs divine service on the 450th anniversary of St. Basil’s Cathedral.
Photo: June 1991. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia as of January 2009) during a divine liturgy in Smolensk’s Assumption Cathedral.
In 1993, Metropolitan Kirill was the initiator of the World Russian People’s Council. On December 6, 2008, the day after the death of Patriarch Alexei II, the Holy Synod elected him Patriarchal Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne.
Photo: December 1999. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia as of January 2009).
Photo: December 1999. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia as of January 2009).
On January 27, 2009, Kyrill was elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia by the Russian Orthodox Church’s Local Council, and was enthroned as the sixteenth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia on February 1, 2009.
Patriarch Kirill has authored many publications, reports, and books. He is an honorary member of several Russian and foreign academies, and an honorary professor with a DSc degree at a number universities.
Photo: April 1, 2010. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during a divine liturgy held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Patriarch Kirill has received orders of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as many state awards and prizes of public organizations.
