Patriarch Kirill urged not to reject those returning to the Russian Federation with repentance

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ believes that Russia should not reject people who left the country but decided to return with repentance. He noted that at the same time there may be “some law enforcement topics, the degree of involvement of these people in some kind of criminal actions, but this no longer concerns the clergy.”

“If people who left Russia, even speaking out somewhere and saying something against it, returned with the understanding that they had made a mistake, then the Motherland cannot reject them. I cannot formulate any other approach to this topic other than the Christian one,” said the patriarch of Rossiya 1 (quoted by Interfax). As an example, he cited the parable of the prodigal son, in which a father welcomed his son back into the house, who took his share of the inheritance, left him and squandered all the money.

The Patriarch drew attention to the fact that among those who left the country there were “quite worthy ones, but those who made a mistake, or were afraid, or really tried to find something more convenient for themselves in life, comfortable, but were disgraced along the way.” “And if they return to their home with repentance, then the father’s job is to accept them,” he added.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in October that Russian citizens who have left the country recently are not in danger of returning. However, in November he noted, that “The Motherland is always open to everyone except enemies” and reminded that among those who left were those who collect money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By data Institute of the European University, 15% of relocants returned to Russia.

Leonid Uvarchev