The chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for Church’s society and mass mediа relations, Vladimir Legoida, this week spoke on the issue of religious extremism and the measures that should be instituted to deal with the phenomenon, in comments made at an international conference convened in the western Russia city of Oryol.
In his address, the Russian Church’s spokesman added that “…in today’s society, knowledge of religion acquires a significant practical value, given that the more one knows about religious traditions, the more difficult to manipulate these”.
Referring to the influence of religion on politics and international relations, Legoida pointed directly to the unprecedented persecution faced by Christians in the Middle East today.