| Mr. Wang Zuoan expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for the invitation to visit Russia. “It is a precious opportunity for us not only to learn more about the Russian Orthodox Church and the historical role of Orthodoxy in Russia, but also to understand the importance of Orthodoxy for the modern Russian society,” Mr. Wang Zuoan said. He told Metropolitan Hilarion about the delegation’s visit to St. Petersburg and the meetings with Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga and Archbishop Amvrosy of Petergof, rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. “Today and tomorrow we will have to work intensively together, and we hope that our work will be fruitful not only for the development of cooperation between our countries in religious sphere, but also for settling the issues concerning the Orthodoxy in China,” the head of the SARA said. He called His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s visit to China, which took place in 2013, “not only a very important event in the history of Russia-China bilateral relations, but also a historic landmark in the development of inter-faith, inter-confessional relations.” Mr. Wang Zuoan emphasized the importance of the meeting between the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping – it was the first and the only meeting between the present state leader of China and a religious leader of another country. “It was the manifestation of special respect not only for Russia, but for Orthodoxy as well,” the head of the SARA said. He also expressed his hope that the visit of the Chinese delegation to Russia would yield practical results and make its contribution to the development of bilateral relations. Metropolitan Hilarion raised the issue of the preservation of tradition moral values in the modern world. Speaking about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, the DECR chairman noted that it is not limited by meeting people’s religious needs. “The Church is also a bearer and a protector of fundamental moral values, including those values that are subjected to criticism, attacks, and erosion in the Western liberal society,” Metropolitan Hilarion said. “The Russian and the Chinese people share many of these values. We might have differences in religious issues, but we have a complete understanding regarding the fundamental moral values, on which the life of our peoples is based.” |
| On the 29 th of October, the Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East led the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Moscow Assyrian Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mat Maryam) - the Representative Office of the Assyrian Church in Russia. His Holiness Catholicos Mar Awa performed the rite of the great consecration of the renovated temple altar and Divine Liturgy in the company of members of the Assyrian delegation. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church who accompanied the Assyrian First Hierarch were present, as well as the Ambassador of Iraq to Russia K. al-Janabi, the leadership of the Representation of the Kurdistan Region in Russia and the Consul of the State of Palestine in the Russian Federation J. Malki. At the end of the service a solemn act, reception and meeting of the Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa with members of the youth movement of the parish of Mat Maryam were held in the representative premises of the temple complex. The hosts of the festive evening were the rector of the temple, the representative of the Assyrian Church in Russia, Chorbishop Samano Odisho and the head of the parish community churchwarden V.V. Ilyushin. On the 30 th of October, a delegation fr om the Assyrian Church of the East visited the churches of the Patriarchal Chernigov Palace and the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Institute of Postgraduate Studies. The meeting of Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa with the members of the faculty and students took place in the Assembly Hall of the Institute. The meeting was followed by a conversation between the distinguished guest and Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, Rector of Instutute, during which the parties discussed issues of academic co-operation between the educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. In the context of his visit to the Institute of Postgraduate Studies, Catholicos Mar Awa also had a conversation with S.G. Alferov, a lecturer of the joint course of the DECR and the Institute called " Ancient Oriental Churches " . The Primate of the Assyrian Church welcomed the teaching of this course, noting that the initiator of its establishment back in the early 1970s at the Moscow and Leningrad Theological Academies was Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), of blessed memory - mentor of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus " Kirill. His Holiness the Catholicos also approved the idea of creating a special educational programme within the framework of the course, dedicated to the study of the heritage of the Syrian Christian tradition, and expressed readiness to assist in the organisation of joint thematic events, including in Iraq. |
| Conference in Austria Devoted to 2nd Anniversary of Havana Meeting Between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill Source: DECR On February 12, 2018, the second anniversary of the Havana meeting between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis of Rome, an international conference devoted to the situation of Christians in the Middle East took place in Vienna. Organized with the participation of the Catholic diocese of Austria, the forum took place at the Episcopal Palace of Vienna. Its co-organizers included the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations (DECR), the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christians Unity, the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture and the Russian embassy in Austria. The event was attended by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman; Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christians Unity; Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna; Metropolitan Ignatius of Paris (Orthodox Church of Antioch); Archbishop Antoniy of Vienna and Budapest, head of the Moscow Patriarchate office for institutions abroad; Metropolitan Issa Gurbus of Switzerland and Austria (Syriac Jacobite Church); Bishop Armash Nalbandian, head of the diocese of Damascus of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Exarchate of Echmiadzin); Bishop Joseph Mouawad (Maronite Church). Among the participants in the forum were Russian ambassador to Austria D. Lyublinsky; Archbishop Peter Stephen Zubriggen, Apostolic Nuncio in Austria; Archpriest Vladimir Tyschuk, rector of the St. Nicholas’s in Vienna; Protodeacon Victor Shilovsky, secretary of the diocese of Vienna and Austria; diocesan clergy; numerous representatives of the diplomatic corps, Orthodox and Catholic clergy, monastic communities, charitable organizations and laity. The delegation who accompanied Metropolitan Hilarion included Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; Hieromonk Ioann (Kopeikin), pro-rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies; and I. Kashitsyn, DECR secretariat for interreligious relations. |
| “Today, as then, Christians of East and West must give common witness so that, strengthened by the spirit of the risen Christ, they may disseminate the message of salvation to the entire world,” the pope said. Pope Francis also mentioned the upcoming 50th anniversary of the historic encounter in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, the meeting in 1964 that set the stage for Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation and dialogue. “God, the source of all peace and love, has taught us throughout these years to regard one another as members of the same family. For indeed we have one Lord and one savior,” the pope wrote. In his address to the Vatican delegation in Istanbul, Patriarch Bartholomew said he believed Pope Francis “will constitute a renewed inspiration for the common journey of our two churches toward the world in order that we may assume social and moral initiatives for the consolation of humanity, which is suffering from diverse global crises.” He underlined the importance of joining the pope for his expected visit to Jerusalem in 2014 to commemorate Pope Paul’s meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras. Meeting in Jerusalem would usher in a new season of ecumenical dialogue, Patriarch Bartholomew said. Ecumenical talks have not been very productive so far, the patriarch said, because they mostly have been “monologues where each side presented its own positions and arguments.” Future dialogue must “discern the teaching of the Lord and his apostles, as this was experienced and witnessed by the common patristic theology of the undivided church.” Pope Francis also wrote in his message that he wished “to pursue fraternal relations between the Church of Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate” and build upon “the depth and the authenticity of our existing bonds.” In his recent apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), the pope wrote about the important things that already unite many Christians. “If we really believe in the abundantly free working of the Holy Spirit, we can learn so much from one another,” he wrote, for example, “in the dialogue with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, we Catholics have the opportunity to learn more about the meaning of episcopal collegiality and their experience of synodality.” |
| The father of the Synod studied also the crisis in connection with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Antiochian attitude was perfectly clear. The Synod was aware of the correspondence between the two patriarchates. His Beatitude then explained recent developments in the light of his meeting with His Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his recent visit to Istanbul. The Synod decided to accept the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in having a three-way meeting between Antiochian and the Jerusalem Patriarchates in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The fathers also affirmed their refusal to adopt violence as a way of dealing in political affairs, especially in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and every country in Antiochian territory and elsewhere in the world. They re-emphasized their refusal that religion should be used to divide citizens of the same country, inviting all those responsible within all religions to proclaim that God does not accept that man should be oppressed or damaged for any reason, and they demanded an end to bloodshed caused by the political use of religion. The fathers of the Synod invited the international society to work together to limit the use of weapons and highlight the importance of dialogue. They pronounced an appeal to encourage those of good will to play a concrete role in building the bridges between the compatriots and work hard to establish the sense of citizenship and responsibility in order to put an end to the violence and promote human and economic development. The Holy Synod declared its repudiation of attacks on human beings, whoever they are, by means of kidnapping, torture and killing. The image of man must be respected and upheld. The Holy Synod appealed for the release of all those kidnapped, especially the Metropolitans Paul and John, and priests and all the kidnapped. The Holy Synod addressed their Children in Aleppo, suffering for the absence of their pastors, covering them with paternal care and asserting that they are doing their best for the release of the Metropolitans and all those in captivity. |
| How do you do that when there are obvious internal tensions? Unity doesn’t just mean the Orthodox churches among themselves, but also taking a step towards greater unity even within the individual Orthodox churches. There are differences, for instance, within the Church of Greece, where some elements are more and others less ecumenical. In the Church of Russia, Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion are very open to other churches, they’re always at the Vatican or the World Council of Churches, but their own church has conservative voices very critical of Kirill’s meeting with Pope Francis. These are issues the council can help smooth out, resolving the fears and suspicions that when the Ecumenical Patriarch, for instance, meets the pope, he’s bargaining away or betraying the Orthodox faith. These issues aren’t just inter-Orthodox, but also intra-Orthodox. We’re meeting precisely because we have differences. If there were no differences, what would be the point? Where do you think the last-minute jitters come from? I think what we’re seeing is the typical response of a family that hasn’t gotten together in a long time. When family members come together after a long period of separation and isolation, people are naturally going to wonder, “What will I say to so-and-so? Where will I be sitting? Do people care about my concerns?” Some are going to be afraid their interests will be overlooked. We have differences that have built up over 1200 years. We’ve been through hundreds of years of persecution under the Ottomans, a hundred years of Soviet oppression, we’re still experiencing persecution and oppression today, as well a refugee crisis, in regions where the Orthodox Church is at home and has been for hundreds of years living side by side with our Muslim brothers and sisters. All that, and more, creates tensions we have to talk about. The Orthodox Church preaches that the council is its gut, its heart, its very identity; conciliarity is in our DNA. But we need to prove it, we need to come together and sit around the same table. I hope this is the beginning of many more councils. In the end, the main achievement will be the meeting itself. |
| Patriarch Kirill Discusses the Situation in Ukraine with Head of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru On February 28, 2019, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Archbishop Luoma of Turku and Finland, at the Patriarchal and Synodal Residence in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow. Participating in the meeting from the Russian Orthodox Church were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR); Archbishop Amvrosy of Vereya, rector of Moscow theological schools; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for the far abroad; Archpriest Victor Lyutik, rector of the Patriarchal Parishes in Finland; and R. Akhmatkhanov, DECR secretariat for inter-Christian relations. From the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland there were Bishop Seppo Häkkinen of Mikkeli; Rev. Jari Huokuna, ELCF chancellor; Rev. Tomi Karttunen, secretary of the ELCF Department for International Relations; Rev. Dr. Juha Meriläinen, secretary of the Archbishop; Rev. Timo Rosqvist, secretary of the Diocese of Mikkeli; and Rev. Vladimir Dorotniy, Church of Ingria. Also attending the meeting was H.E. Mikko Hautala, Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to the Russian Federation. Welcoming the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Patriarch Kirill said that he was glad to meet with the high guest in Moscow. His Holiness also mentioned the previous meeting, which took place in autumn 2019 in St. Petersburg. ‘We are living at a difficult time from the perspective of the political situation in the world,’ His Holiness said in particular, ‘But political storms is one thing and relation between Christians, between Churches is another. I remember the hard time during the ‘Cold War’, when East and West were in a state close to an armed conflict. I remember how active Christian contacts were at that time. It was really a bloom of inter-Christian relations because the awareness of our common responsibility for the world, for cooperation between countries, between people was a great impetus for developing these relations’. |
| 8. Cooperation in media sphere The aforementioned documentary about St. Thomas and his Indian heritage filmed in India in February 2023 and shown on “Spas” Orthodox TV channel was a success, as the Working Group members pointed out. The Moscow Patriarchate representatives conveyed gratitude to His Holiness Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III for his assistance and for the interview in which he had expressed his love for Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. They also thanked Rev. Aswin Fernandis for all the work he had done to help organise the filming. Making documentaries, TV programmes and other media content on the Christian traditions of Russia and India and the history of the bilateral dialogue was regarded as an area of significance for further cooperation. 9. Promoting mutual pilgrimage visits The participants in the meeting deemed it important to support the growing interest of the Russian and Indian Christians in each other’s religious heritage and to provide assistance in organising pilgrimages to the Christian holy sites in Russia and India. 10. Cooperation in the sphere of church art The Malankara Church is interested in learning more about the Russian icon-painting traditions and promoting them in India. Hence, the Working Group will initiate and help carry out the appropriate projects. 11. Visit of His Holiness Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III to Russia During the aforementioned meeting between the Working Group members and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill conveyed an official invitation to the Primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church to visit Russia. The Working Group felt it important to begin preparations for this visit as soon as possible. 12. Furthering veneration of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow in India The Working Group hails the growing interest towards and the veneration of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow in India. Prayers to this saint have already been translated into the Malayalam language. It was deemed helpful to translate a documentary about St. Matrona and show it later in India. |
| The meeting between the Firsts Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Havana in 2016 had historical significance. Thanks to the joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill which treated the problem of the persecution of Christians as paramount, the topic of the genocide of Christians was finally discussed at many international forums and became part of the world’s agenda. Soon after the historic meeting in Havana, bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sphere between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church began to develop successfully. In 2016, with the participation of the Kirche in Not Foundation, a joint Orthodox-Catholic delegation visited Syria and Lebanon, met with local religious leaders and visited refugee camps in the Beqaa Valley and held round-table talks with representatives of the local Churches in Zahle and Damascus. As a result of the visit an illustrated catalogue of destroyed Syrian churches was produced; projects for their restoration are now being developed. In September 2017 I visited Lebanon where I met with the hierarchs and representatives of the Churches of Lebanon who carry out their ministry in the Beqaa Valley. The aim of my meeting was to discuss the current humanitarian aid in the region and the humanitarian initiatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, including in the context of inter-Christian and inter-religious cooperation. In the Beqaa Valley, located in the east of Lebanon, a great number of Syrian refugees have found shelter. While Muslims have been placed in specially equipped camps, Christians have to rent accommodation in the cities of Zahle and Baalbek. The Russian Orthodox Church is cooperating also with other Christian confessions in the field of rendering aid to persecuted Christians. In 2017 the Moscow Patriarchate was one of the initiators in holding a world summit in defense of persecuted Christians, which brought the world community’s attention to the unprecedented persecution of Christianity. The summit, organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in collaboration with the Russian Orthodox Church, took place in Washington in May 2017. Participating in the summit were representatives of various Christian denominations from 135 countries. Represented were the Local Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as various Protestant denominations. The summit was visited by US vice-president Mike Pence, with whom I had a conversation. |
| During a repast that followed the opening ceremony the DECR chairman addressed all those present, saying in particular: “Byelorussia was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union that suffered greatly under the pressure of atheistic persecutions. A goal was set to destroy religion completely in Byelorussia, to make it a fully atheistic krai. However, when Metropolitan Philaret was appointed to serve here, the situation began to change. Of course, it began to change especially after the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia and after the establishment of the Exarchate, which gave an opportunity to take a fresh look at the religious situation in Byelorussia. That moment marked the beginning of true revival of church life in the Byelorussian land. From a diocese headed by one hierarch the Belarusian Church grew into the Exarchate with its own Holy Synod, the Exarchate which carries out missionary and charitable work, social projects and ministry among young people, which actively interacts with secular authorities and promotes contacts with other Christian confessions.” That same day later Metropolitan Pavel and Metropolitan Hilarion, together with a number of other participants in the celebrations, visited the Honorary Patriarchal Exarch, Metropolitan Philaret, in his residence at the Minsk Diocesan Administration. During a brotherly meeting Metropolitan Avgustin of Belaya Tserkov and Boguslav handed over to Metropolitan Philaret the highest award of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – the Order of Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves. This award was also presented to Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk ad Zaslavl. In the evening the grand meeting on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Belarusian Exarchate and a concert took place in Minsk. In the beginning of the grand meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk read out a message of greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The message reads: “Your Eminence, beloved in the Lord Metropolitan Pavel, archpastors and pastors, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters, |
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