Leader of Russian Orthodox Church, a spy of KGB

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, was a KGB agent while working for the World Council of Churches in Switzerland in the 1970s.

The Times reported that declassified archives allege that Patriarch Kirill was a spy of KGB.

The report said that a police file suggests he was known as “Mikhailov” and responsible for swaying the policies of an international church body.

Patriarch Kirill has supported President Putin and the war on Ukraine and there have been moves to expel him from the World Council of Churches.

There have been past rumors about his role.

In 1992, a dissident priest with access to papers, said many church leaders had actively worked with the secret police.