| Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the diocesan exhibition of children " s drawings " We draw flowers " The Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations The Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations Department History Contacts Documents Archive Insights News Patriarch DECR Chairman Social Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Home page News Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the op… Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the diocesan exhibition of children " s drawings " We draw flowers " DECR Communication service/ Website of the Diocese of Sourozh 09.11.2023 On Sunday, November 5, 2023, after the Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in London, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the exhibition of children " s drawings “We Draw Flowers,” dedicated to the 159th anniversary of the birth of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. The exhibition presents works by students of parochial schools of the Sourozh diocese from London, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham. The exhibition also presents drawings by students of secular Russian schools: " Fairy Tale " (London), " Rainbow " (London), " Knowledge " (London), " Istok " (Reading), and the art studio " Drawing Together " . Opening the exhibition, Bishop Matthew spoke about the importance of venerating the saints in the life of every Christian and drew attention to the fact that the Holy Martyr Elizabeth is especially close to Orthodox believers living in Great Britain. After the untimely death of Princess Alice, the daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and the mother of Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the future saint was raised for 6 years in Great Britain, mainly living in Osborne House Palace, Queen Victoria " s summer seaside residence in the town of East Cowes on the northern coast of the Isle of Wight. |
| August 31, 2018 – During a meeting with journalists, which took place at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, the DECR chairman Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk told them about the meeting of the primates of the Church of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church. The meeting has taken place today at the building of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Phanar quarter in Istanbul. As Metropolitan Hilarion reported, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, having come to Phanar, venerated the shrines in the Patriarchal Cathedral dedicated to the Holy Protomartyr George, including the relics of Ss Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. At the Patriarchate, the primate of the Russian Church was welcomed by His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew. The first part of the meeting took place in the official format. Present at it were all the members of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. His Holiness Patriarchate Bartholomew greeted the guest after which His Holiness Patriarch Kirill delivered brief remarks in response. Then the two primates withdrew to Patriarch Bartholomew’s office where a confidential private talk took place. Present at this talk, from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, was Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and from the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. ‘The talk lasted in total about two and a half hours. It was very frank, very cordial; it really was a talk from heart to heart’, the DECR chairman stressed. His Eminence reminded the journalists that Patriarch Bartholomew and Patriarch Kirill met in 1977 and they have a very long and rich history of personal relationships; as far back as before their election to the Patriarchal ministry, they worked much together for achieving a consensus on very diverse topics on the pan-Orthodox agenda. ‘This meeting was important first of all for the strengthening of personal relationships between the two patriarchs and, of course, for strengthening bilateral relations between our two Churches’ the archpastor said, ‘the interlocutors touched upon a wide range of issues including those on the agenda of the bilateral relations, as well as problems of pan-Orthodox unity. The talk, which began in a very sincere atmosphere, ended on a very friendly note, and the patriarchs exchanged gifts’. Metropolitan Hilarion expressed hope that the meeting would become another important event in the already ages-long history of bilateral relations between the two Churches. |
| ROC Holy Synod Holds Two-Day Session A number of important decisions have been made concerning the internal and external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. Photo: foto.patriarchia.ru A number of important issues concerning the internal and external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church were resolved by the Holy Synod under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at a two-day session on September 23 and 24, 2021. The session took place in the Throne Hall of the Patriarchal and Synodal Residence in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. Permanent member of the Synod, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, took part in the meeting via video communication. During the session, the Synod discussed the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to the capital of Ukraine, which took place on August 20-24, 2021. The Synod considered the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew to Kiev without an invitation from the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine and the legitimate bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a gross violation of the canons and noted its purely political nature, revealing the dependence of the Patriarch of Constantinople on forces external to the Church. The Synod noted that by supporting the schism in Ukraine, Patriarch Bartholomew lost the trust of millions of believers and no longer has the right to speak on behalf of the entire world Orthodoxy and represent himself as its leader. The Synod confirmed the loyalty of the Moscow Patriarchate to the canons and generally recognized principles of inter-Orthodox cooperation, and also stressed that the responsibility for undermining church unity rests entirely with Patriarch Bartholomew as a result of his anti-canonical actions. The Synod expressed support to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, archpastors, pastors and the entirety of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in their standing for the truth, in loyalty to the canonical unity of the Church. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Our Churches and our peoples have undergone many trials. Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III on the Assyrian Church of the East and its ties with Russia The Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East, His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III , has headed this ancient sea for only two years and has already visited Russia twice. In November 2023, the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin signed a decree awarding the Catholicos " for his great contribution to the preservation and development of spiritual and cultural traditions, strengthening peace and harmony between peoples " with the Russian state award - the Order of Friendship. In an interview with the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (No. 3, 2024), His Holiness Mar Awa spoke about the close ties between the Russian and Assyrian peoples, the dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, and the goals of his ministry. Assyrians in Russia in the time of Nicholas II - Your Holiness, the Assyrian people have longstanding close ties with the Russian people, which was especially evident in the late 19th century and during the First World War. The best proof of this fact is your ancestors who served in the Russian army during those years. Tell us about them. - My maternal great-grandfather, Shmuel Khan, became a full Cavalier of the Cross of St. George. His father, my great-great-grandfather, Bejan, according to our family legend, also received the St. George Cross. He came fr om Targavar district, fr om the Urmia county¹, wh ere in the late 19th century there was a Russian vice-consulate, and in the early 20th century - the Russian military presence and the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia. Bejan was killed by the Kurds in 1907. Shmuel Khan was a commander of the Targavar Assyrians " squad and served on the Persian-Turkish border. During World War I, in September 1914, he defended Urmia against the Kurds. In his detachment were 250 Assyrians, and with them was a detachment of 60 Cossacks. At the beginning of the siege, the Cossack commander was killed by a sniper, and Shmuel Khan took charge of the united detachment. The fighting went on for almost three days, and the Kurdish attack was repelled. Later he took part in a retaliatory expedition of Russian detachments, the Kurds were driven back. He then commanded the 3rd separate Assyrian cavalry centuria [a hundred men] as part of the Assyrian units fighting in the Russian army. |
| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill Calls Local Orthodox Churches to Not Recognize the New “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” Source: DECR A deep wound has been inflicted on the canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine and worldwide, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia wrote in the letters addressed to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. The messages were sent to His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Neophytos of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. As His Holiness Patriarch Kirill informed them, on December 15, a gathering of “hierarchs,” “clergy” and laity of two Ukrainian schismatic groups took place in Kiev with the direct involvement and under the direct patronage of the government authorities of Ukraine. The participants in that unlawful assembly at the historical Sophia Cathedral in Kiev proclaimed themselves “unification council.” That so-called unification was, in fact, a merger between two schismatic organizations which formed one. Taking part in the “council” were false bishops of the schismatic “Kievan patriarchate” and of another uncanonical structure – “Ukrainian autocephalous orthodox church.” “Meanwhile, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, recognized in the entire Orthodox world, refused, in accordance with the decision of its Holy Synod of December 7, to participate in this event, considering it an “unlawful gathering.” Despite the fact that the archpastors of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were brought under enormous pressure, out of its 90 hierarchs only 2 (one diocesan and one vicar) took part in the pseudo-council. For falling into the schism and flagrantly violating the episcopal oath they both were relieved of their posts and suspended from serving by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of December 17,” the letters said. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Metropolitan Vladimir’s Image Has Become an Esceptionally Positive Part of Ukrainian History Source: DECR In an interview with Interfax-Religion the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk spoke of the coming election of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, of the steps necessary to resolve the serious political situation in south-east Ukraine, and commented on the decision by the General Synod of the Church of England to ordain women as bishops. – Your Eminence, you represented His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the funeral of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine. At the beginning of May at passport control in Dnepropetrovsk you were told that you had been denied entry into Ukrainian territory. Did you go through this time without any problems? – This time I crossed the Ukrainian border without obstacles. Petr Alexeyevich Poroshenko saw to this personally. – Could you please share your impressions of your visit to Kiev? – The funeral of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir, for which practically all of the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had gathered, took place in a very solemn atmosphere in the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev. Together with the Liturgy it lasted almost seven hours. A great number of people filled the monastery courtyard, everything took place in the open air. This made a majestic impression, which was completely befitting the importance of the man we were accompanying on his final journey. His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir was a historical person, an outstanding man. He became head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at a very difficult turning point for her when within the bosom of the Church a schism had arisen and when the former metropolitan of Kiev Philaret Denisenko attempted to tear the Ukrainian Church from the bosom of the Moscow Patriarchate. The bishops of the Ukrainian Church grouped together and did not allow this to happen. Here we should note merit of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim of Kharkov who convoked a Council in Kharkov but himself had no claims to become the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Council then elected Vladyka Vladimir metropolitan of Kiev, who at that time was carrying out his ministry beyond the Ukraine as metropolitan of Rostov. He viewed this ministry not as an honour but as a cross, and he bore it with dignity for more than twenty years. |
| The Romanian Orthodox Church is an institution of apostolic origin. The Christian faith was known south of the Danube river, in the regions inhabited by Illyrians, Thraco-Dacians, and Greeks (today’s Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece), as far back as the second half of the 1st century, through the preaching of St. Paul and his disciples. More specifically, Christianity was spread through the preaching of the Apostle Andrew in what is today the Romanian province of Dobrogea, which, after the administrative reform of Diocletian, was called Scythia Minor. In local traditions St. Andrew is called the “Apostle of the wolves,” which is historically significant in a context where the ethnic symbol of the Dacians was the wolf’s head. In the northern part of the Danube river, in Dacia, which in 106 became a Roman province after being conquered by Trajan, the new faith arrived in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries, brought by merchants, colonists, and the soldiers of the Roman army who were settled in the newly occupied territory. After the retreat of the Roman legions to the south of the Danube (271) and later, after the promulgation of the Edict of Milan (313), through which Emperor Constantine the Great granted liberty for Christians, the new religion expanded. Significant Christian archeological evidence discovered in the northern territories, as well as all the words of Latin origin in the Romanian language which define fundamental notions of the Christian faith, stand as proof of this expansion. During the 4th century there also existed, on the eastern borders of the Danube, several diocesan seats such as Singidunum, Viminacium, Bononia, Ratiaria, Oescus, Novae, Appiaria, Abritus, and Durostorum, whose bishops took care of the spiritual needs of the faithful north of the Danube, too. There was a metropolitan seat at Tomis in Scythia Minor (today, Constanta) with as many as fourteen dioceses, active in the 4th century and led by diligent bishops (Bretanion, Gerontius, Teotim I, Timotei, loan, Alexandru, Teotim II, Paternus, and Valentinian). According to the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, a Scythian bishop was present at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea (325) and other bishops who followed him took part in the works of the subsequent councils, as well as in the christological disputes of the time. There are also indications of the existence of diocesan seats in other towns. Well- known theologians from Scythia Minor are St. John Cassian and St. Dionysius Exiguus. |
| Archbishop Tikhon of Podolsk Takes Part in Memorial for Russian War Prisoners in Slovenia Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru On 25 July 2020, with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Archbishop Tikhon, administrator of the Diocese of Berlin and Germany, took part in the memorial services at the Russian Chapel of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles on the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia. This year, the ceremony, organized by the Russian embassy in Slovenia, the Slovenia-Russia Society, the Kranjska Gora city administration and the Russian World Foundation, was held under the motto of solidarity and unity of nations and was devoted to all those who, during the pandemic that has become a common disaster, have shown exceptional orderliness, competence and compassion. Because of the pandemic restrictions, the event was attended by 200 people. The memorial was opened by the orchestra of the Slovenian police. It performed the national anthems of Slovenia and Russia. The assembly was addressed by Kranjska Gora Mayor Janez Hrovat, President of the Slovenian State Council Aloiz Kovsca, Russian ambassador T. Eivazov, and Slovenia-Russia Society member Urban Ocvirk. The ceremony devoted to the 104 th anniversary of the chapel was attended by President of Slovenia Borut Pahor, chairman of the Slovenian State Council Igor Zorcic, Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana (Serbian Orthodox Church), Bishop Stanislav Lipovsek of Celje (Roman Catholic Church), Bishop Leon Novak (head of the Evangelical Church of Slovenia), and chairman of the Slovenia-Russia Society Saša Ivan Gerina. Traditionally, President Pahor and Ambassador Eivazov laid wreaths at the Sons of Russia obelisk at the chapel. Then the head of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation, Archbishop Tikhon of Podolsk, said the Office for the Dead for the Russian war prisoners who died during World War I in Slovenia. Requiems were sung by the family quartet led by conductor-reader Mathew Kobro from Munich. |
| Archive People in Mariupol have received aid from religious communities in Russia 17 April 2022 year 11:42 On April 15, 2022, in the left bank part of Mariupol, the distribution of the humanitarian aid collected by believers in Russia took place as part of the work of the Interreligious Working Group for Protecting the Rights of Believers against Discrimination and Xenophobia under the Presidential Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations. As a result of the joint efforts, about 15 tons of humanitarian supply consisting of, among other things, a thousand of food packages was collected in a short term and delivered to people in Mariupol. Each kit includes over ten kilograms of the most essential foodstuffs: macaroni, canned high-quality fish and vegetables, pastry, sweets, tea, sugar and other foodstuffs. The aid is targeted: beforehand a list of those in the greatest need was compiled locally and already today the food packages have been distributed to concrete families. Another part of the supply includes children hygienic essentials, as well as aids for nursing bed-ridden patients and the elderly. On the same day, a press conference was held at the International Multimedia Center “Russia Today” on the organization of the humanitarian aid given to Donbass by traditional confessions and religious communities in Russia. Journalists had an opportunity to ask questions of secretary for inter-Christian relations of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and leader of the Interreligious Working Group for Protecting the Rights of Believers against Discrimination and Xenophobia, Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), adviser of the Presidential Office for Domestic Policy Pavel Kostylev; head of the legal service of the Diocese of Russia and Novo-Nakhichevan of the Armenian Apostolic Church Deacon Michael Parsadanian; representative of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha in Russia Bato-Lama Dugarov; head of the Administration of the Presiding Bishop of the Russian Church of the Evangelical Faith Ivan Borichevsky; representative of the Russian Union of the Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), Rev. Pavel Renner; fist vice-chairman of the Euro-Asian Division of the General Conference of the Church of the Seventh Day’s Christians Oleg Goncharov; and representative of the Russian Orthodox Old Belief Church Roman Atorin. The press conference was moderated by Ms. Olga Lipich, editor-in-chief of the Religions and World View section of the International News Agency “Russia Today”. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy DECR Chairman Addresses Round Table at the Federation Council DECR Communication Service, 23.01.2024. On January 23, a round table on “Russia’s role in the global humanitarian space. Preservation and promotion of cultural and spiritual heritage” took place at the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in the context of the 12 th Parliamentary Meetings which are traditionally held as a part of the International Christmas Educational Readings. The round table was co-chaired by Mr. Grigory Karasin, head of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR). Mr. Karasin addressed the participants with opening remarks. In his speech, Metropolitan Anthony emphasized the urgency of the topic discussed at this meeting, “since it gives a wide field for meaningful and businesslike talks, deliberations and discussions about the mission of Russia and the Russian Church in the modern world.” The archpastor reminded the audience that throughout history “our nation has been creating spiritual and cultural space inseparable from the Orthodox faith. It was the Christian worldview that became the key factor and basis for the formation of Russian culture and national identity and greatly influenced the development of national social and political thought,” he underscored. “Russian culture, which is known to the whole world today in all its diversity and richness, could not come into being without Orthodoxy. As time went on, this culture got enriched by new traditions brought by the people who took the path of common historical development, which ultimately gave rise to the phenomenon of Russian civilization.” Metropolitan Anthony continued to say: “Like any civilization, we cannot retreat into ourselves, but seek contacts and cooperation with other peoples and cultures and with all those who are ready for dialogue with us. This is a kind of mission to which the Russian Orthodox Church attaches great significance. The language of spiritual ideals and meanings, moral axioms, high culture and art is an instrument that despite all potential obstacles and impediments can cross national and linguistic boundaries, thus offering a chance to relate people all over the world with one another.” |
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