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High patriarchal awards conferred on Fidel and Raul Castro

20.10.2008 · Архив 2005-2009, События  

Raul Castro, Head of the State of Cuba, has been awarded the Order of St. Daniel the Prince of Moscow, 1st Class. With the blessing of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Relations, presented Mr. Castro with the order on 19 October 2008, at the Cuban State Council.

Mr. Raul Castro was granted the high church award ‘in recognition of his support for the construction of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana’.

‘His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and the Russian people are grateful to you and in your person to the people of Cuba for the construction of a Russian Orthodox church in Havana’, Metropolitan Kirill said, presenting the order, and stressed once again: ‘We are aware that Cuba is not a very rich country and it was difficult for you to build a Russian church, but all the works were carried out within the time limit and with a good quality’.

Fidel Castro, the First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, has been awarded the Russian Orthodox Church Order ‘Glory and Honour’ in recognition of his contribution to interreligious dialogue and on the occasion of the consecration of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana.

According to Metropolitan Kirill, ‘the legendary Cuban leader was the one who determined the place where the church of Our Lady of Kazan has been built’. As a result, ‘we can see a remarkable five-domed Russian cathedral and a religious and cultural center standing at an embankment in Havana’, Metropolitan Kirill said.

In a talk that lasted for over two hours, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations and the leader of the Cuban state discussed the past and present of Russian-Cuban relations, the role of religious factor in relations among nations and many other issues.

DECR Communication Service