The DECR Chairman on a trip to Canada

THE DECR CHAIRMAN ON A TRIP TO CANADA

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, made a tour of the Moscow Patriarchate’s parishes in Canada to inquire into their condition and needs. For the five days of his stay in Canada, the DECR chairman visited 12 churches and had talks with the parishioners. He officiated at All-Night Vigil at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Niscu and conducted a litya at the graves of Archbishop Panteleimon, Archimandrite Dimitry and Archpriest John Margitich, with commemoration of “all those buried here”.

The jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in Canada includes 22 parishes which are divided into three major groups attended to respectively by Archpriest Michael Kit, rector of the Church of Protomartyr Barbara in Edmonton, Archpriest Michael Furik and Father Igor Kisil. Most of the parishes represent farm churches reminiscent of pogost (a church with a grave-yard outside a settlement). At St. Barbara’s Church in Edmonton, services are held every Saturday and Sunday, while in other churches from 2 times a month to 2 or 3 times a year, depending on the size of the church and the actual needs and wishes of the parishioners.

Before leaving for Russia, Metropolitan Kirill paid a visit to the mayor of Edmonton. They discussed burning problems of today’s society, the role of the Church in improving people’s morality and in asserting authentic spiritual values among the youth.