Metropolitan Kirill visits the USA
14.11.2003 · English, Архив 2003
METROPOLITAN KIRILL VISITS THE USA
On 13 November 2003, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, in the frameworks of his visit to New York conducted a series of meetings and conversations with Russian diplomats who work in the Russian Embassy, in the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the UN and other international organizations, and with religious leaders of various confessions in America.
In the morning Archbishop Kajak Barzamian, Primate of the Armenian Archdiocese in the USA, gave breakfast in honor of Metropolitan Kirill and the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Head of the American Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church highly estimated the traditionally good relations between the Holy Echmiazin and the Moscow Patriarchate and pointed out the importance of Metropolitan Kirill’s contribution to Christian witness all around the world.
Attending the breakfast were hierarchs of the Oriental Churches, who have parishes in the USA, representatives of the Orthodox Church in America, the Greek and Antioch Archdioceses of America, A. Martirosian, Armenian Ambassador to the UN.
The same day Metropolitan Kirill visited the Russian Permanent Representation to the UN, where he met with staff-members of Russian diplomatic agencies in New York. In his address DECR MP Chairman noted that objectives of the Russian foreign policy and church diplomacy largely coincide as they aim at promoting the revival of the Fatherland and bearing responsibility for the formation of new Russia, where spiritual values have indisputable priority.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Kirill handed over the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow to S. Lavrov, Russian Ambassador to the UN, who was honored with this high church award for his hard work and in commemoration of the centenary of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York. Among those who were decorated with high orders of the Russian Orthodox Church was a group of diplomats who represent Russia to the UN and the USA. Russian Ambassador to the UN presented Metropolitan Kirill with an icon of the Holy Trinity, which had been restored at the expense of staff-members of the Russian Permanent Representation to the United Nations Organization.
In the evening of the same day Metropolitan Kirill visited the residence of Russian diplomatic agencies in New York, where he went to the secondary school of the Russian Permanent Representation to the UN and answered numerous questions from diplomats and members of their families, who came to talk to His Eminence.
Metropolitan Kirill was accompanied by Bishop Merkury of Zaraisk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Rev. Alexander Abramov, a staff member of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, and Hieromonk Iosif (Kryukov), secretary to the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.
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