At a fraternal meal following the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, on November 4, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia shared his thoughts on Russian identity and the global role of Russia as a state-civilization.

"Who are we? I think today this question is almost rhetorical — we clearly understand who we are. Russian Russians are a united Russian people, based on the Russian people and Russian culture. The Russian people Russians who have managed to unite other cultures and other peoples without any conflicts, which is actually an absolute civilizational miracle," said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"Almost everywhere where national groups clash, a struggle for primacy begins, which leads to interethnic conflicts. But Russia has bypassed this temptation. Indeed, both our ancestors and current generations are doing everything to ensure that our country, uniting people of different nationalities and different religions, preserves its integrity, unity, and, most importantly, the ability to be a home for all," His Holiness noted.
"Why has it not been possible to build such a balanced, peaceful, peaceful society in many countries? I am deeply convinced that the reason lies primarily in some kind of selfishness of those who tried to unite other nations and peoples around them," the Primate continued. — We can thank the Lord that in addition to many abilities and powers, He has also invested and developed a sense of humility in the soul of a Russian person. Humility is perceived by many as weakness, but this is not the case at all.: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). After all, those who rely on God cannot neglect others. Even holding a high position, he will always be aware of his limitations, the inability to do something based only on his capabilities. This means that through humility, he creates a solid foundation for interacting with other people."
"How did it happen that we created a great multinational state? Precisely because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Russians have never been a nation that suppresses others. The kings never had a question: "Is it worth taking him as a commander, like he has a German last name? And what do the Georgians have to do with it, and what do the Armenians have to do with it?" There were no such questions! — said His Holiness the Patriarch. — Thanks to the wise policy of the tsars, thanks to the phenomenal attitude of the Russian people towards other peoples, the great multinational Eurasian empire was created. Moreover, the unique civilization is undoubtedly Orthodox, because the majority professes Orthodoxy. This civilization has withstood terrible trials of revolution and wars. Even today, Russia, with a predominant Russian population, is a country open to any ethnic groups, any nationalities."
"But why is it that in one of the prayers that we now offer at the Liturgy, there are words: "For many will take up arms against us"? Why are they fighting? There is only one answer: because we offer an alternative to modern Western civilizational development. Russia is building the foundations of a new civilization. A civilization where science, technology, high technologies, high standards of living, education, art, and culture are combined with deep and sincere religious faith," His Holiness noted. — This is no longer the case in the West, where religion has been pushed beyond the fields of civilizational development. A society obsessed with the idea of material well-being and comfort, which has forgotten about the spiritual foundations of existence, becomes very fragile. And Russia offers an alternative that is attractive to many, and you and I are participants in this historic process."
"Today, this path is largely determined by our Supreme Commander-in-Chief, because deep sincere faith is combined with many remarkable abilities in his personality. It so happened that at this very moment in our historical development, the country is headed by a man who combines faith and knowledge — something that we are all called upon to combine, realizing the idea of building a Russian civilization. But it is through the combination of spiritual and material, vertical and horizontal dimensions of life, that the well—being of the country, the people, the state and simply human happiness is possible," His Holiness Patriarch Kirill concluded.
The Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia