MOSCOW, June 8 (UPI) -- The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has urged monks to abstain from using the Internet to protect themselves from online temptations.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia made the comments during a speech at the Zograf Monastery at Mount Athos, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.
The patriarch said the Internet can be a breeding ground for sin and temptation and monks, who renounce worldly pleasures, should avoid such temptations online.
Kirill said priests should use the Internet to promote Christian values.
Archdeacon Andrei Kuraev in a blog post the patriarch did not view the monks as "lustful teenagers, for whom access to the Internet means access to porn." He said Kirill "was talking about other threats -- about unregulated information (and rumors) about church life."
