The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called on Kazakh nationals to keep Orthodox Christian faith and remember that previous generations managed to preserve it in the times of Soviet persecution.

"Preserving the faith, we will keep the ability to love both those who are close to us and those who are far... and change both ourselves and people around us," Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in Almaty's St. Nicholas Cathedral.

On Monday the patriarch, whose visit to the Central Asian country started Saturday, will lead a divine liturgy in Almaty's Ascension Cathedral and meet with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

He also called on believers to be more resolved in fighting sin.

"The Lord says: whatever sinners we are, we always have a chance to attract God's love and mercy," Kirill said, adding that people will manage to do that when they learn to "give part of themselves to others and forgive them."

The Russian patriarch will leave for Moscow Monday evening.

Kazakhstan's main religions are Islam and Orthodoxy.

ALMATY, January 17 (RIA Novosti)