Metropolitan Kirill meets with Archbishop Edmund Ratz

On 16 June 2005, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad met with Archbishop Edmund Ratz, newly elected president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, Ukraine and Middle Asia (ELCR).

The development of good relations between the Orthodox and Lutherans in Russia and other CIS countries were discussed at the meeting. The parties noted that today these centuries-old relations have potential for Orthodox-Lutheran cooperation in the field of social ministry, moral education of our citizens, introduction of religious studies at school, and in working out common positions on improving legislation on religious organizations.

Among those who participated in the meeting were Hans-Joachim Schwann, head of the ELCR Central Church Administration in Saint-Petersburg, V. Pudov, ELCR representative in Moscow, Rev. Igor Vyzhanov, DECR MP Secretary for Inter-Christian Affairs, and E. Speranskaya, DECR MP staff-member.