Moscow, March 29, 2016
Speaking before the Moscow State Duma deputies, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia urged them not to justify the utilitarian preservation of names of city objects which perpetuate the memory of murderers and terrorists.
“I do not encourage the demolition of monuments and I support a healthy approach to the matter of renaming city streets and other objects. We should not touch the memory of people who served their motherland in one or another period of history,” the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted.
“But that does not apply to those individuals who stained their hands with innocent blood,” he added, stressing that it is impossible to explain to young people the reasons for perpetuating the memory of wicked men.
In Patriarch Kirill’s view, prudent changes in the names of city streets and other objects will shape the moral consciousness of the society.
