Russian Orthodox Patriarch calls on people not to forget all the good that Soviet leaders accomplished

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has called for a sober assessment of the Soviet period in Russian history. In particular, Kirill recalled the positive role the Soviet leadership often played.

According to the Patriarch, the successes of the state leadership, which was responsible for the country's modernization, "are impossible to doubt, even if this leadership is marked by evil deeds."

"Where we find willpower, strength, intellect, and political resolve, we say: yes, these are unmistakably successes, as was the case with victory in World War II. And where there was blood, injustice, and suffering, we say that it's unacceptable to us, as people of the 21st century," Kirill said.

“We don't identify with these bloody pages of history. We hand these historical figures over to God's judgment. But the negatives should never be a reason to exclude all the positive things that were done, just as positive things done by one person or another shouldn't exclude a critical approach to crimes they've committed,” the Patriarch observed.

The Patriarch's comments came today at the opening of the 14th annual exhibition-forum, "Orthodox Russia, My History, 20th Century, 1914-1945, From the Great Shocks to the Great Victory." Kirill did not specify what he meant when he said "these bloody pages." This early period in Soviet history included events such as the Great Terror and mass repressions of the 1930s. The first several decades of the USSR were also accompanied by the state's persecution of the Church.