Patriarch Kirill considers the pandemic "a lesson for the excessive consumption"

During his sermon in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the occasion of Palm Sunday, the patriarch recalled that “man does not live by bread alone,” and that the current pandemic should make people think about their true purpose of living on earth and rebuild consumer society as a whole. “Sorrows are given to us in order to become our life lessons. Through overcoming these sorrows, a person becomes closer to God, thereby conquering the sorrow itself, ”the Patriarch of TASS quotes.

After the introduction of the self-isolation regime and the transfer of companies to remote work on forced free vacations, almost a third of Russians turned out to be unemployed. Two-thirds of Russian residents by the end of the month will have no money left even for food. Entrepreneurs refuse to pay their employees forced leave due to the introduction of a self-isolation regime, as well as take interest-free loans to close salaries to employees, arguing that they may not survive until the end of the economic crisis in the country due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is considering the issue of allocating money for entrepreneurs to close employees' salaries during this period, however, business does not believe in this measure of support from the state.

The patriarch urged residents to stay and pray at home on the eve of the Orthodox holidays, as well as watch the services on TV. Earlier, the Moscow Patriarchate announced that it would not allow parishioners to enter the church on the eve of the main church holiday of Easter because of the threat of the spread of the coronavirus. Eight priests have already confirmed the presence of the disease, three more are on self-isolation. All monasteries in the capital and in the suburbs were required to pass tests for the presence of a new disease.