Grand meeting at the Church of Christ the Saviour

GRAND MEETING AT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR

A grand meeting devoted to the Bimillennium of the Nativity of Christ took place on August 18 at the Church Councils Hall of the Church of Christ the Saviour. It was opened with an address by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. After the speech His Holiness thanked those who carried out special work to revive the Church of Christ the Saviour and contributed their mite to the reconstruction of the people’s shrine. His Holiness the Patriarch decorated the Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, First Degree, the Moscow Government vice-premier V. I. Resin with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Second Degree, and the Russian Academy of Arts President Z. K. Tsereteli with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Second Degree. Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, and Bishop Alexis of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, chairmen of the Church of Christ the Saviour Interior Decoration Commission, were awarded the Order of St. Innocent, the Second and Third Degrees respectively.

Speeches were made at the grand meeting by the following Primates of Local Orthodox Churches: His Holiness and Beatitude Patriarch and Catholicos Iliya II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Paul of Serbia, His Holiness Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria, His Holiness Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostom of the New Justiniana and All Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Nicholas of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Among the speakers were the following representatives of Local Churches: Archbishop Dimitrios of America (Patriarchate of Constantinople), Metropolitan Irinaios of Pelusium (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Bishop Niphon of Philippopol (Patriarchate of Antioch), Archbishop Benediktos of Gaza (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Metropolitan Ambrosios of Kalavrita and Aigialeia (Church of Greece), Archbishop Jeremiah of Wroclaw and Szczecin (Polish Church), and Archbishop Hermann of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (American Church). The grand meeting ended with a brief word by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II in which His Holiness again thanked those who gathered in the hall for their participation in the church-wide jubilee celebrations.