Metropolitan Kirill addresses future diplomats

On 12 October 2005, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, delivered a speech for students of the Higher Diplomatic Courses at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Higher Diplomatic Courses are held twice a year to give professional training for state officials to be appointed on senior diplomatic post abroad: ambassadors, envoys, and consuls general.

Rector of the Academy Y. Fokin also attended the meeting.

Metropolitan Kirill told future heads of Russian representations abroad about principle directions, forms and methods of work in the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Kirill also reported on the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to the cooperation with the RF Foreign Ministry in the field of protecting constitutional rights and freedoms of the Russian citizens abroad and answered the questions of the participants.