Accessibility links

Breaking News

The Patriarch And The 30,000 Euro Watch


We wrote yesterday about Patriarch Kirill's trip to Ukraine and some of the problems he's encountered.

Now the Ukrainian media is full of stories about the luxurious watch Kirill has been wearing (pictures here).

According to the Unian news agency:

Patriarch Kirill has classical model of Breguet: watch case is made from white gold, the wristlet is made from crocodile leather, the automatic mechanism, there is also a alarm clock. The price for this model is from EUR 28 thousands up to EUR 36 thousands depending on company- seller.

Kyrylo Hovorun, the chairman of the Department of External Church relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, declined to comment to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on the patriarch's choice of watch, but promised to answer the question later.

Regardless, does it matter? Probably not, as I'm sure the pope has plenty of watches and ecclesiastical garments that would make an off-the-shelf Swiss watch seem rather shabby, but it is a little rich given that on this trip Kirill has been condemning Western liberal values and unrestrained consumption.

-- Luke Allnutt

About This Blog

Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission+rferl.org

Latest Posts

XS
SM
MD
LG