[2] Kirill's relationship with Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch and the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, has been tense.

Clergy in other Orthodox Churches have condemned his remarks, with Bartholomew I saying that Kirill's support for Putin and the war were "damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy".

His elder brother, Archpriest Nikolay Gundyaev, is a professor at Leningrad Theological Academy and rector of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

[5] The Supreme Authority of the Church charged Kirill with the following functions: On 20 October 2008, while on a tour of Latin America, he had a meeting with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro.

On 9 December, during the funeral service for Alexey II in Christ the Saviour Cathedral (which was broadcast live by Russia's state TV channels), he was seen and reported to have fainted at one point.

[20] On 12 February 2016, Kirill and Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, met at José Martí International Airport near Havana, Cuba, and signed a thirty point joint declaration, prepared in advance, addressing global issues including their hope for re–establishment of full unity, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Syrian Civil War and church organisation in Ukraine.

[23] On 3 September 2019, Kirill and Paulose II, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, met at the Patriarchal and Synod residence in St. Daniel Monastery, Moscow.

[25] The post-graduate department of the Moscow Theological Academy, which operated under the DECR, was transformed into the All-Church postgraduate and doctoral school named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles [ru].

[28] Since 6 October 2011, at the request of the Patriarch, the diocesan reform began, in which 2–3 dioceses were created on the territory of one region instead of one with the formation of a metropolis (Russian: митрополия, mitropoliya), administrative structure bringing together neighboring eparchies.

[34] According to the Financial Times, "Keenly aware that Putin's actions severely undermined his authority in Ukraine, Kirill refused to absorb Crimea's parishes and boycotted a ceremony in the Kremlin to celebrate Russia's annexation.

[40] The following day, Medvedev hosted a reception (a formal banquet[41][42]) for the ROC bishops in the Grand Kremlin Palace, where Patriarch Kirill spoke of the Byzantine concept of symphonia as his vision of the ideal of church-state relations, though acknowledging that it was not possible to fully attain it in Russia today.

[55] Journalists of the newspapers Kommersant and Moskovskij Komsomolets accused Kirill of profiteering and abuse of the privilege of duty-free importation of cigarettes granted to the church in the mid-1990s and dubbed him "Tobacco Metropolitan".

[65] Three female members of the feminist group Pussy Riot were arrested in March 2012 for performing a song in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow during which they called on the Virgin Mary to "chase Putin out".

[76] In March 2012, the former Russian Health Minister (1999–2004) Yury Shevchenko, pursuant to a court ruling, paid about 20 million rubles ($676,000) in compensation for the dust resultant from the renovation work that had settled in a flat upstairs in the prestigious House on the Embankment privately owned by Patriarch Kirill and occupied by the Patriarch's long-time friend businesswoman Lidia Leonova.

[80] According to the lawsuit, renovation works in Shevchenko's apartment stirred up a lot of dust, which settled on a collection of valuable books owned by Kirill.

[citation needed] Most of the reports in the media tended to be critical of Patriarch Kirill and laughing at the claims that the dust was harmful, saying that it was just sand and it would have been far more efficient to just hire a maid to vacuum it up.

[85][86] A spokesperson added that it was "unethical" to discuss Kirill's private life, and the Russian Orthodox Church said on 4 April 2012 that foreign forces were taking revenge on it for supporting Putin: "The attacks have become more prominent during the pre-election and post-election period [...

"[88] In June 2012, Kirill was given the 2011 Silver Shoe Award [ru] (given in Russia each year "for the most dubious achievements in show business") for "immaculate disappearance of a watch" in the category "Miracles up to the elbows".

In May 2017, he again likened silencing such priests to totalitarianism seen in Nazi Germany, and referred to same-sex marriage as a threat to family values during a visit to Kyrgyzstan.

[102] Forbes reported on 20 February 2009 that, "Kirill, who was the Metropolitan of Smolensk, succeeds Alexei II who died in December after 18 years as head of the Russian Church.

Further reporting from 7 March 2022 from The Guardian's Emma Graham-Harrison interviewed local Ukrainians for their opinions about Kirill and the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

"Kirill is a KGB guy, and he supports all aggression against Ukraine," he said, but asked not to give his last name, worried like many in the town about community tensions about the church.

As a consequence, several priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine have stopped mentioning Kirill's name during the divine service.

[120] In the days after the world learned about the 2022 Bucha massacre by Russian invaders of Ukraine, Kirill said that his faithful should be ready to "protect our home" under any circumstance.

"[127] On 27 March 2022, Kirill expressed his support for the actions of Rosgvardiya in Ukraine, praising its fighters for performing their military duty, and wished them God's help in this matter.

[132] The Russian Orthodox Church in Lithuania has declared that they do not share the political views and perception of Kirill and therefore are seeking independence from Moscow.

[140] Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that the patriarch's legitimization of the "brutal and absurd war" is "a heresy.

[146] On 27 March 2024, World Russian People's Council led by Kirill, published a declaration in support of Russia's war in Ukraine.

[155] An open letter of concern was addressed by a number of significant clerics to the Orthodox Christian faithful in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[160] According to a 2020 investigation by Proekt, Kirill and two of his second cousins owned nine separate pieces of real estate worth $2.87 million in the Moscow Region and St.