Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia on a visit to Vladivostok

PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA ON A VISIT TO VLADIVOSTOK

On May 10 His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia came to Primorye for a primatial visitation. This was the first visit of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Primorye region.

During his archpastoral visit to the Far East, His Holiness the Patriarch was accompanied by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Archimandrite Feognost, father superior of St. Sergious’ monastery of the Holy Trinity, and other officials.

At the airport in Vladivostok the Patriarch and his retinue were met by Bishop Veniamin of Vladivostok and Primorye, Primorye Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko, representatives of the local public and the diocesan clergy.

Bishop Veniamin addressed the patriarch with a welcoming speech, saying in particular, “Your Holiness, permit me in these radiant Paschal days to welcome you to Primorye, the remotest border of the Russian land, on behalf of the entire diocese of Vladivostok. Though there is nothing greater in the world than the Pascha joy, a God-given opportunity for the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church to pray together with her primate gives special happiness. Just as in the early Church the holy apostles went to visit the faithful “even to the end of the earth”, so today, on the threshold of a third millennium after the Nativity of Christ, the Vladivostok diocese welcomes its Primate”.

Answering questions from journalists who came to the airport, Patriarch Alexy noted in particular that “my first visit to the Far East was planned for 1997 and also in connection with my visit to Japan. But unfortunately it did not happen. This year, in connection with the election of a new head of the Japanese Orthodox Church, we go to Japan, and the first stop on our way is Vladivostok in the Primorye region. For a long time I wanted to come here, to meet people, to see with my own eyes how church life is reviving after a period of devastation and desolation. I had the occasion to visit Yakutia, Magadan, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1993, but it is my first visit to Vladivostok, by God’s grace. Significantly, it is a jubilee trip for me in a way, as the Vladivostok diocese is the 70th diocese I have visited while in the patriarchal office. I hope that a day and a half at my disposal here will help me to know better the life and problems of the Orthodox Vladivostok”.

During his stay in the region, His Holiness Alexy and his retinue visited several churches in Vladivostok, had talks with the faithful, local officials, and public figures, as well as students and professors of the Far East State University and the Pacific Fleet servicemen. His Holiness also visited the Orthodox grammar school and talked there with young Orthodox people. At the Memorial to the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War, the Patriarch conducted a requiem service for those who gave their lives for the Motherland.

Central to the primatial visit was a three-hour-long solemn service in the central square in Vladivostok, which took place on May 11. On the eve of the event, a wooden rostrum crowned with a cupola was erected there, as there is no church in Vladivostok large enough to accommodate all those who wished to attend the service.

Despite a downpour, thousands of Primoryans who came from all over the region joined the primate in prayer in the city’s central square. Among the patriarch’s concelebrants were Metropolitan Kirill, Bishop Veniamin and an assembly of the diocesan clergy.

At the end of the service His Holiness addressed the congregation, noting a special significance of the Promorye region for Russia as its easternmost border. He wished the Primoryans that the revival of Russia also began at their land. Having congratulated the congregation on the radiant days of the Lord’s Pascha, the patriarch gave to the Primorye Orthodox an icon of the Life-giving Trinity.

After conducting a prayer service in the morning of May 12, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and his retinue departed for Japan, where on May 14 His Holiness will elevate Bishop Daniel (Nashiro) of Kyoto to the rank of Metropolitan of Tokyo and All Japan.