Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church arrives in the Holy Land to participate in enthronement of the Patriarch of Jerusalem

The enthronement of His Beatitude Theophilus III of Jerusalem is to take place on November 22, 2005.

An official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, arrived in the Holy Land with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

Among the members of the delegation also are: Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR MP secretary for Inter-Orthodox Relations, deacons Sergei Govorun and Sergei Ulanov, DECR MP staff-members.

The delegation was met in Ben Gurion airport by Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra, G. Tarasov, RF Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Israel, and Archimandrite Elisei (Ganaba), Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.