In the West, monasteries disappear or become tourist attractions, in Russia everything is different - Patriarch Kirilltranslated

Despite the strong pseudo-cultural pressure, monastic life in Russia is developing, unlike the West, where monasteries today are more tourist sites, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said about this.

Speaking on September 15, 2026 in the Moscow City Duma, the First Hierarch said that in the year of his election to the Patriarchal ministry, in 2009, there were 25 monasteries in the Moscow diocese - 12 men’s and 13 women’s.

– In 2025 – 37 monasteries: 17 male and 20 female. 12 monasteries were added. This is a lot, because monastic life is now under strong pseudo-cultural pressure due to the secularization of human consciousness,” said His Holiness.

– That is, people care about material things, about their well-being. If a person goes to church on Sunday, that’s already good. But to connect your life with the spiritual feat that is monasticism is another matter,” added Patriarch Kirill.

At the same time, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that “in Western Europe, not to mention other countries, monastic life and monasteries are disappearing or becoming a folklore or tourist site.”

– If there are five or six monks in the monastery, then it is already considered almost a monastery. And in Russia...