Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev) – Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (2009 – current time), Metropolitan of Kaliningrad (2023 – current time).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on November 20, 1946 in Leningrad in the family of a clergyman.
He graduated from high school in 1964, and the next year he became a first-year student at the Leningrad Theological Seminary, where he completed his studies in 1967. During 1965 – 1967 he studied at the seminary, after which he entered the Leningrad Theological Academy, from which he graduated with honors in 1969.
In 1970, he received a PhD in theology, defending his dissertation on the process of forming the church hierarchy and the Orthodox teaching on its grace-filled nature. During his studies at the academy, he taught dogmatic theology and worked as an assistant inspector of the institution.
A Career as a Clergyman
During his studies at the university, Gundyaev joined the social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). He participated in the annual meetings of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
On April 3, 1969, he took monastic vows, after which in the same year he was ordained a hierodeacon, and a year later he received the rank of hieromonk.
In August 1970, he was appointed personal secretary to Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad. At the same time, he continued to engage in the external activities of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In 1971, he received the rank of archimandrite and was appointed official representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. In addition, he headed the parish in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same city.
In December 1974, he was appointed rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary. During 1975, he became chairman of the diocesan council of the Leningrad Metropolis and became a member of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches.
In 1976, in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, his consecration as Bishop of Vyborg, vicar of the Leningrad diocese, took place. In the same year, he was approved as the permanent representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the plenary commission of the World Council of Churches. In 1977 he received the rank of archbishop.
In the period from 1976 to 1978, he served as Deputy Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe, and after that he was entrusted with the supervision of Patriarchal parishes in Finland.
In 1979, he became a member of the Commission of the Holy Synod on Christian Unity. Since December 1980, he joined the work of the Commission for the organization of the celebration of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus.
In 1984, he was appointed Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazemsky, and in 1989 the title was changed to “Smolensk and Kaliningrad”. In the same year, the Holy Synod decided to appoint him head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. He held the position until 2009. He also became a permanent member of the Holy Synod.
In 1991, he received the rank of metropolitan. In the period from March to October 1999, he served as interim head of the Korsun diocese.
On December 6, 2008, after the death of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, at an emergency meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill was elected Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. Voting took place behind closed doors.
On January 27, 2009, during the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
Criminal Cases
Due to its support for the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, it is under sanctions from the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Canada, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Estonia.
On November 4, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced suspicion to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is charged with encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, justifying Russian aggression, as well as participating in the planning, preparation and conduct of an aggressive war.
