Commenting on the problem of preserving the Christian presence in the Holy Land, the urgency of which was pointed out by the Primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church in connection with the actions of radical Judaist groups aimed at ousting the Christian community from Jerusalem and its suburbs, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia noted in a traditional Christmas interview that the Russian Orthodox Church she is in solidarity with Patriarch Theophilos, supports him and will speak out in defense of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, including for the preservation of his property.

“The ownership of a number of pilgrim houses of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem is unjustly contested by Jewish radicalist public organizations. If these buildings go to the radicals, millions of Christians who come to Jerusalem every year may not be able to access the so-called “pilgrimage route” – the street that starts from the Jaffa gate of the Old City, which leads to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the right of passage along this path to the greatest the shrine for pilgrims may be lost,” he said.

Patriarch Kirill pointed out the enormous danger of radicalism artificially fueled by the religious idea, “because religious wars are what mankind has suffered from for centuries.”