MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill has expressed fears over the threat of radical Islamism existing in Russia.
"We have not had any religious wars in a thousand years. We have always lived together but everyone observed their customs and preserved their traditions. (. . .) We are still living in the inertia of this tradition which unfortunately is now exposed to a greater risk from radical fundamentalist Islamic groups," the patriarch said at a meeting with the global leadership group of the World Economic Forum in Moscow on Saturday.
These groups "come to Russia and teach their followers a different style of relationship with non-Muslims," he said.
"I thank God that today an absolute majority of Muslims in Russia continue the tradition of co-existence that has existed in our country for hundreds of years. We are making every effort to preserve this tradition," the Russian church leader said.
Russia has an inter-religious council that discusses problems "shared by people of various religious: legislation, social issues and many others," he said.
"If the religious thinking gets radicalized, then inter-religious relations explode. Religious leaders, governments and authorities are faced with an enormous task here," Patriarch Kirill said.
"We perceive with gratefulness what our fathers and forefathers believed in and how they built inter-religious relations, and we would like to continue this tradition because it proved its viability," he said.
"People preserve their cultural and religious values but they respect and help one another in their interaction," the patriarch said.
Today the religious factor is being used by "the evil will" of certain individuals "for political purposes," he said.