Metropolitan Kirill receives delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran

On 11 December 2007, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad met at the Moscow Patriarchate Department for external church relations with the leader of the Organization of Islamic relations and Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran M. Mostafavi and leader of the Cultural Centre at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow M. Imanipur.

M. Mostafavi appreciated the work of the ‘Islam-Orthodoxy’ joint commission and expressed his hope for the continuation of cooperation.

Metropolitan Kirill proposed to hold the next meeting of the ‘Islam-Orthodoxy’ Commission in Moscow and discuss anthropology and doctrine of both religions.

The DECR Chairman told the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran about an initiative of the RF Foreign Minister S. Lavrov to set up a consultative centre of religions under the UN auspices.

Taking part in the meeting were also the acting DECR secretary for Church-Society relations Rev. Georgy Ryabykh and a DECR staff member Rev. Georgy Roschin.