Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awards His Holiness Patriarch Kirill with the Order of Alexander Nevsky

On 3 February 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with the members of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church at Aleksandrovsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace. In conclusion of the meeting, he awarded His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with the state Order of Alexander Nevsky.

The Presidential decree of 7 January 2011 says that the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church is awarded for “his special personal services to the Fatherland in upholding spiritual and cultural traditions,’ the Patriarch’s press office reports.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill is the first holder of the reinstated Order of Alexander Nevsky, the statutes and description of which were approved in the Presidential decree No. 1099 of 7 September 2011 “On measures to improve the state awarding system in the Russian Federation.”