This material (information) was produced, distributed and (or) sent by a foreign agent of RS-Balt JSC or relates to the activities of a foreign agent of RS-Balt JSC. 18+
The Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung, citing declassified documents of the Swiss federal police, interviews and publications, wrote that Patriarch Kirill (in the world – Vladimir Gundyaev), while working in Geneva in the 1970s in the World Council of Churches, was allegedly a KGB agent under the pseudonym ” Mikhailov. Journalists argued that he was supposed to collect information about the members of the Council and influence their attitude towards the USSR.
The Russian Orthodox Church responded to the publication’s article. Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media of the Moscow Patriarchate, called the material “politically motivated speculation.”
“Unfortunately, this goal has recently dominated modern Western media. Moreover, after each speculation, the author of the article bashfully adds that it is not possible to confirm this lie, ”RTVI quotes him.
It’s funny that the interlocutor of the Swiss publication about the alleged “connections of the Patriarch with the KGB” was a person who himself had the most direct relationship with this structure,” Kipshidze concluded.
We add that in 1971 Vladimir Gundyaev was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
