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On 17 November 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, completed his visit to the diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

At the Russian-Ukrainian border, Archbishop Amvrosy of Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky saw off Metropolitan Hilarion and his suite consisting of Rev. Igor Yakimchuk, hierodeacon Ioann (Kopeikin), assistant to DECR chairman; and L. Sevastianov, executive director of the St. Gregory the Theologian Charity Foundation.

The DECR chairman and Bishop Feofilakt of Bryansk and Sevsk proceeded to Bryansk with a short stop in the town of Klintsy where the archpastors visited the Church of Ss Peter and Paul.

While in Bryansk, Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Cathedral of the Resurrection, where he venerated the relics of St. Oleg, and the Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity in the process of construction.

The DECR chairman met with N. Denin, the governor of the Bryansk region, at the building of the regional administration. They were joined in the meeting by Bishop Feofilakt.

On November 18, Metropolitan Hilarion and his suite arrived in Moscow.

The DECR chairman visited the dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. On November 10-17, Metropolitan Hilarion visited Donetsk, the Laura of the Assumption in Svyatogorsk, Severodonetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov, Poltava, Cherkassy, Kiev, and Chernigov.

During his missionary visit, the DECR chairman met with bishops, clerics, laymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and representatives of public circles. His “St Matthew Passion” was performed in several cities.

The St. Gregory the Theologian Charity Foundation rendered financial and organizational assistance to the visit.