President Putin showed that Russia will always follow the path of true Orthodoxy
On May 28th, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Athos. During the welcoming ceremony, he was allowed to take the place previously occupied by the Byzantine emperors, bishops and leaders of Orthodox states. Live on the Russian TV channel Tsargrad, the Chairman of the Supervisory board of Katehon analytical center, Konstantin Malofeev, explained the meaning of this visit:
“On June 17th, the Pan-Orthodox Council will be held on Crete, which has been called the eight ecumenical one, but such has not been organized since the last one 1300 years ago. So, I would like to point out that this Pan-Orthodox council is being organized under the pressure of the West. We know, for example, that the ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, is in fact merely the patriarch of the small area of Phanar in Turkish Constantinople.
If we are talking about geopolitics, then I would like to note that the Russian Church is also under enormous pressure. Patriarch Kirill is personally too. At the preparatory council in Chambesy, Switzerland, our patriarch, almost alone, confronted the others who wanted to raise for discussion things very unpleasant for believers which could affect the Orthodox tradition. Thanks to God, thanks to the courage of our Patriarch and, by the way, thanks to the support of the Georgian Church, he managed to insist on a neutral text. It is a declarative one, but there's no doctrinal change. This is a great achievement of our Church and the Patriarch himself.
It should be taken into account that in the preparations for the Pan-Orthodox council on Crete, US intelligence services (from the FBI and CIA) were invited to help provide antiterrorist security. Even though the Council is to invite “so many Orthodox believers” that there is no one who could have blown them all up, they of course need American specialists in large quantities to control virtually all the processes of the event.
It was under such pressure that the head of an Orthodox state, the Russian president, visited Mount Athos, where Orthodoxy has been completely perfected and unspoiled, where monks always speak the truth. They say what they really think about the Pope or the Pan-Orthodox Council, and this is very important! President Putin showed that Russia will always follow the path of true Orthodoxy. And this fact is supported by Patriarch Kirill, with whom he traveled together on the pilgrimage! This is the first and only time in history that the head of the Russian government prayed on the Holy Mountain together with the Patriarch. I’m sure that this historic moment and this meeting today with the monks of Athos will yield a lot in terms of metaphysics, geopolitics and, in other words, grace and spiritual benefit for all of Orthodox humanity.”