The Royal Chambers in Bari handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church
18.04.2001 · English, Архив 2001
THE ROYAL CHAMBERS IN BARI HANDED OVER TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The so-called Royal Chambers, a pilgrimage compound adjoining the Russian Church of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy, will be handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church. This agreement was reached during the audience Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia gave to the Mayor of Bari, Mr. Simeone di Cagno Abbrescia, on April 5 at his resident in St. Daniel’s monastery. Present at the meeting were Archimandrite Alexis (Polikarpov), father superior of St. Daniel’s, Rev. Vladimir Kuchumov, rector of the Moscow Patriarchate Representation in Bari, and Protodeacon Vladimir Nazarkin, assistant to a vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations.
The Royal Chambers building belonged to the Church before the 1917 Revolution and became later a municipal property. An appropriate addition on its transfer will be made to the Agreement on Cooperation the Russian Orthodox Church and the Bari city authorities signed on November 23, 1998.
Commenting on the outcome of the negotiations, His Holiness the Patriarch said that the agreement was “another step towards rapprochement” and noted that the transfer of the Royal Chambers would make it possible to increase the number of pilgrims coming to Bari.
Mr. Abbrescia, in his turn, reported that the airport in Bari was ready to receive regular flights from Russia. The city has set up an infrastructure to receive Russian pilgrims and tourists who come en masse to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. “We are doing all that is possible to increase the number of pilgrims from Russia and strengthen our bilateral relations”, he said. The Bari mayor also invited the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church to visit Bari.
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