Orthodox Church Says Western Human Rights Don’t Suit Russia

Moscow, Russia - Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchy have suggested Russia should work out its own distinctive view on human rights, Itar-Tass reports.

The West has been trying to thrust its own opinion of the issue on Russia, “an opinion that ignores values of state and society,” Father Vsevolod Chaplin, who is in charge of foreign relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, said at a round table discussion devoted to rights problems in Russia.

According to Chaplin, “[the Orthodox Church] needs to begin a serious discourse on the issue in order to determine what is more valuable than human rights.” Although he named values such as “Motherland, nation and the security of one’s neighbors”, he did not specify if they are the most important in his opinion.