Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday participated in a congress of top clerics in Moscow, a first for a Russian leader, in a drive for ever tighter relations between the Kremlin and the Orthodox Church.
The symbolic gesture, hailed by Patriarch Kirill as a "historic event," shows Putin's eagerness to fortify already strong ties with the church ahead of March presidential polls, despite a constitutional separation between church and state in the country.
"The state, while it respects the self-sufficiency and independence of the church, expects to continue our cooperation in such important spheres like education and healthcare, cultural and historical heritage, and helping families bring up youth," Putin told the assembly.
Putin is the first Russian president to visit the meeting of Orthodox bishops, the Russian church's top decision-making body that meets at least every four years and which, among other things, elects the patriarch.
This year the gathering is taking place in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
"The church authorities are overjoyed that he himself has come to participate, like Byzantine emperors long ago who came to church assemblies," said Boris Falikov, an expert at the Centre for Religious Studies at the Russian State University of the Humanities. READ MORE
