Metropolitan Kirill on a visit to Mordovia

METROPOLITAN KIRILL ON A VISIT TO MORDOVIA

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, was on a visit to Mordovia from July 2 to 4, 1999, at the invitation of the Head of the Republic of Mordovia, N. I. Merkushin, and Bishop Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia.

On June 2, Metropolitan Kirill was met at the airport in Saransk by the Chairman of the Mordonian Government, the Deputy Chairman of the Mordovian State Assembly, and Bishop Varsonofy. From Saransk Metropolitan Kirill left for the Ichalki settlement to say the prayer for the rest of the soul of Starets Filaret (Kulakov) at his grave. At the village of Oborochny, he conducted a requiem service at the grave of his grandfather, Father Vassily Gundyaev.

In the afternoon, Metropolitan Kirill, accompanied by the leader of the Republic, visited the Mordovian Stud-Farm. Then he viewed St. Tikhon’s convent at the Kurilovo village and the monastery of the Holy Trinity at Chufarovo.

On July 3, Metropolitan Kirill and Mr. Merkushin laid flowers at the 1941-1945 War Memorial and visited the Museum of Military and Labour Achievements. After that Metropolitan Kirill had a long talk with the faculty of the Mordovian University.

Later that day he spoke at a Mordovian youth forum and then, accompanied by the Head of the Republic, left for the Sanaksara monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos. At the shrine with the relics of Ven. Theodore of Sanaksara (an uncle of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov), he said a prayer for the rest of the soul of the holy man who is to be glorified among the saints on July 11. Metropolitan Kirill made a tour of the monastery and visited the Admiral Ushakov’s grave. After his tour of the monastery compound, His Eminence Kirill addressed the participants in the conference on the Mordovian Monasteries and had a talk with Mordovian historians.

In the afternoon, Metropolitan Kiril, Bishop Varsonofy and Mr. Merkushin visited the convent of the Ascension at the Paygram village. On their way back to Saransk, they stopped at St. Nicholas under construction at the town of Ruzayevka.

In the morning of Sunday, July 4, Metropolitan Kirill conducted a requiem service at the grave of his grandmother in Saransk and celebrated together with Bishop Varsonofy the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian.

At the press-conference held at the Saransk diocesan office, Metropolitan Kirill answered numerous questions from Mordovian journalists. After the press-conference, he had dinner with the Head of Mordovia and Bishop Varsonofy at the House of the Republic.