An exhibition ‘The Church and Russian Religious Revival’ to open at the UNESCO congress center in Paris

The exhibition ‘The Church and Russian Religious Revival’ will be opened in a solemn ceremony at the UNESCO congress center in Paris on February 13, 2006. The ceremony is expected to be attended by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, Russian Ambassador to UNESCO A. Kalmanov, and Archpriest Vladimir Silovyev, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church Publishing Board.

The exhibition has been planned to coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the Representation Church of the Three Hierarchs in Paris as the cathedral church of the diocese of Korsun uniting the parishes and communities of the Moscow Patriarchate in five Western European countries: France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland.

‘The French people have always been interested in Russian culture and spirituality, and relations between our two countries have a long history. We keep the grateful memory of the how hospitable France became a haven for a great number of Russian refugees during the time of trouble that came to our country in the early 20^th century, and this helped in many ways to preserve Russian culture’, Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia said in his message to the organizers and participants in the exhibition.

The exhibition has been prepared by the Russian Orthodox Church Publishing Board and the Museum of the History of Moscow together with the Diocese of Korsun. The exhibition illustrates the phenomenon of the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church for the last fifteen years and the areas in which the mission of the Church is developing in today’s world. The exhibition will also provide an occasion for the presentation of the album book Sacrificial Service published in 2005 to mark the 15^th anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Alexy II.

From Blagovest-Info new agency