Metropolitan Hilarion tells journalists of the Department for External Church Relations’ activities in 2010

On 25 November 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), held a press conference at the Department’s premises.

Metropolitan Hilarion told representatives of Russian and foreign newspapers, internet publications, radio stations, and TV channels of the events that took place in the inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian relations last year, of the official visits of His Holiness the Patriarch, and of the trips undertaken by the DECR chairman.

Last year, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited Ukraine three times; DECR having taken part in the visits. The last visit (November 22-23) was timed to the celebration of the 75^th birthday of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine. Metropolitan Hilarion noted: “these visits contribute to consolidation of the healthy forces in Ukrainian society and the unity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and open ways to the overcoming of deplorable consequences of the schism.” The DECR chairman recalled His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s words about unity of the three Slavic peoples, which is “the spiritual unity rather than political one that transcends political boundaries between the three fraternal states – Belarus, Russian, and Ukraine.”

Metropolitan Hilarion also told the journalists of the visit of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Patriarchate of Alexandria and his meetings with His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria.

The DECR chairman spoke about his working trips to Serbia, Japan, and Georgia, his pilgrimage to the Holy Mount Athos, and two missionary tours to Ukrainian cities.

Metropolitan Hilarion presented “Orthodoxy in China” book published for the 325^th anniversary of Orthodoxy in China in the Russian and Chinese languages prepared for publication by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations in cooperation with the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences and with support of the Russian-Chinese Business Council and the “Gruppa-SINTEZ” company.

The DECR chairman answered many questions about relations of the Moscow Patriarchate with the Local Orthodox Churches and other Christian Churches and communities. He told the journalists of the upcoming visits of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the life of the Orthodox Christians abroad, for instance, in China.