Pat. Kirill of Moscow: learn the lesson of the Holocaust

Moscow, January 24 (Interfax) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has expressed words of solidarity with the Jewish people in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust, saying he regrets that mankind has not fully learned this historical lesson.

"The memory of this horrific event of the 20th century is also important today. To our great regret, we are seeing a revival of radical ideologies not only at the level of separate terrorist groups but on the scale of whole states. The problem of particular political or religious figures assuming exclusive rights is very acute now. Against this backdrop, new precedents of anti-Semitism, Christianophobia, hatred of other religious traditions are becoming increasingly frequent," the head of the Russian Church said in his address to participants of the 5th World Holocaust Forum.

The patriarch said with regret that the international community had in the 21st century allowed the persecution of Christians whose rights, including the right to life, are encroached upon in many areas of the planet, in the Middle East, in Africa, and in Asia. "Speaking about the genocide of the Jews, it is impossible not to mention today's genocide of Christians," the patriarch said.

"Mankind should learn lessons from the horrific pages of world history so that no one ever again allows the deaths of innocent people and encroachments on people's dignity," he said.

"I grieve with the Jewish people on such memorial days," the patriarch said in his address.