Metropolitan Kirill on a visit to Yemen

Official program of Metropolitan Kirill’s visit to Yemen began on 6 December 2005. It was opened with DECR MP chairman’s meeting with the Yemen vice-president Abd ar-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, an acting head of the state, as president Ali Abdallah Saleh together with minister of foreign affairs Abu Bakr al-Kerbi are attending the summit of member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Mecca.

In his talk with Mr. Hadi, Metropolitan Kirill noted the community of moral principles in both religions and their careful attitude to the traditions and cultural particular features of the people who profess Orthodoxy and Islam. In his opinion, the two religious communities could bear common witness about the necessity of peaceful coexistence of different civilizational styles of life in the globalizing world at present. To achieve this goal, the traditional religious of Russia initiated a summit of religious leaders to be held in Moscow next July prior to the G-8 Summit in St.Petersburg. Metropolitan Kirill invited the Yemeni state and religious leaders to take part in it. A possible outcome of the religious summit could be an appeal of representatives of world religions to the leaders of the eight most developed countries of our planet.

Vice President supported the initiative and said the Yemen part was ready to participate in the work of the conference. He believes Muslims, Christians and Jews standing for peaceful relations should unite their efforts and support multi-polar model of the world. Mr. Hadi is confident such steps contribute to neutralization of radical movements appearing in any religious tradition.

On the same day Metropolitan Kirill met with Minister of Waqufs and Moral Orientation Hamud Ubad. Minister also supported the idea to organize a summit of religious leaders in Moscow. He underlined that Muslims and Christians had rich experience of friendly neighboring relations that should be developed and strengthened.

In the evening Metropolitan met with staff-member of the Russian embassy in Yemen and Orthodox believers residing in Sana. Over 200 people were present at the embassy meeting. Metropolitan Kirill addressed the participants with his archpastoral word and conducted a prayer service. His Excellency A. Zasypkin, RF Ambassador to the Yemen Republic, gave a ceremonial reception to honor the high representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.