A Delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Rome

On 23 April 2005 a delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate arrived in Rome. On April 24 the delegation will attend the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI of Rome.

The delegation is led by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, and includes Archbishop Mitrofan of Pereyaslavl-Khmelnitsky, Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and Rev. Igor Vyzhanov, acting DECR MP secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.

In the evening, on the eve of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem, Metropolitan Kirill officiated at the festive All-Night Vigil service in the church of St.Nicholas the Miracleworker. Concelebrating were the members of the delegation. Metropolitan Kirill warmly greeted the worshippers with the feast and called them to keep the Orthodox faith, always feeling the presence of God in the world and discerning the acts of His mercy in the life of all people.

On the same day the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Walter Cardinal Kasper gave dinner in honour of the representatives of different Churches and international Christian organizations who arrived to take part in the inauguration ceremony of Pope Benedict XVI.

Links:

• Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, congratulated Benedict XVI, the newly-elected Pope of Rome
• His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II congratulates His Holiness Benedict XVI on his election as Primate of the Roman Catholic Church
• A delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate Attended the Inauguration Ceremony of the Pope of Rome
• Pope Benedict XVI Received the Delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate