DECR chairman receives officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, received on June 21, 2006, Rev. Dr. Risto Cantell, director for international relations, and Rev. Timo Roskvist, secretary to the Archbishop of Turku and Finland. They discussed questions concerning the upcoming Summit of Religious Leaders to take place on July 3-5, 2006, in Moscow, and problems involved in inter-Christian contacts. It was agreed to start preparations for the next round of theological dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, planned for 2008.