Russian President Vladimir Putin receives His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios IV of Antioch and All the East in the Kremlin
31.01.2003 · English
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN RECEIVES HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA AND HIS BEATITUDE PATRIARCH IGNATIOS IV OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST IN THE KREMLIN
Russian President Vladimir Putin met on January 22, 2003, in the Kremlin, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios IV of Antioch and All the East.
President Putin congratulated the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch on having won the Prize of the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Nations. He stressed that His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios was known in Russia not only as an outstanding hierarch of the Church, but also as a spiritual leader who made a considerable contribution to the development of friendly and fraternal relations among nations.
His Beatitude Ignatios, in his turn, expressed gratitude to Mr. Putin for the warm welcome, stressing that trust in and respect for Orthodox faith in the world was determined in many ways by the way in which Orthodoxy is treated in Russia.
The head of the Russian State also reminded his guests that a day before he had an opportunity to congratulate another winner of the Prize “For Outstanding Contribution to Strengthening the Unity of Orthodox Nations” – the Bulgarian President George Pyrvanov. Mr. Putin noted that the active work of the Russian Orthodox Church in today’s world promoted among other things the enhancing of the Motherland’s authority in international arena.
His Holiness Alexy II noted with satisfaction that in the course of his visit the Primate of Orthodox Church of Antioch appraised highly the considerable and beneficial changes that had taken place for the fifteen years since his previous visit to Russia. His Holiness also informed the president that in the morning of January 22 the Patriarch of Antioch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin. It was in the 17th century that a divine service was celebrated in the Kremlin with the participation of the Primate of the Antiochan Church.
The talk lasted for an hour. His Beatitude Ignatios, on his part, related to President Putin the situation of Orthodox Christians in the Middle East countries. They also discussed such themes as dialogue between representatives of various faiths and cultures, peacemaking, resistance to terrorism as well as situation around Iraq.
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