Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad arrives in Germany to take part in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Berlin

On 30 May 2008, the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad arrived in Germany to take part in the celebration of the 70^th anniversary of the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Berlin. He was met at the airport by the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Germany archbishop Longin of Klin and by archbishop Feofan of Berlin and Germany.

That same day Metropolitan Kirill met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steimayer. They discussed the church-state relations in Russia and Germany, the role of religious factor in the relations between the two countries, the situation in Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia, humanitarian aspects of the extension of the European Union, and the Orthodox approach to the problem of human rights, as well relations between religions and civilizations.

Taking part in the meeting on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church were also archbishop Longin of Klin and archbishop Feofan of Germany. The talk was held in the constructive atmosphere of goodwill. The participants noted the importance of such talks as they promote the better mutual understanding.

In the evening of the same day archbishop Feofan gave a luncheon in honour of the hierarchs and clergy who arrived in Berlin for the festivities.

On May 31, there was laid a foundation stone of St. George’s Monastery in Hetzendorf. In 2006 the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad chose a place for an Orthodox abode on the territory of the Hetzendorf estate some eighty kilometers from the capital of Germany. The restoration works of the buildings and the designing of a new church have already begun with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

Taking part in the laying of the monastery church [performed by Metropolitan Kirill were archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany and Great Britain (the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad); a vicar of the Russian Orthodox Church in Germany archbishop Longin of Klin; archbishop Feofan of Berlin and Germany, archbishop Simon of Brussels and Belgium; archbishop Innokenty of Korsun; a vicar of the Moscow diocese and administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA bishop Merkury of Zaraisk; a vicar of the Berlin diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad bishop Agapit of Stuttgart; bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria; bishop Elise of Surozh; clergy of the Berlin diocese, guests from other diocese, and representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Germany, German public circles and many pilgrims.