Delegation from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg visits the Department for External Church Relations

On June 16, 2011, a delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg, Germany, visited the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. The delegation was led by Oberkirchenrat Rev. Dr. Ulrich Heckel, professor at the Faculty of Theology, Tubingen University. On behalf of the DECR chairman, the delegation was welcomed by his deputy, Hegumen Philaret Bulekov, who introduced the German guests to the priorities the Russian Orthodox Church set itself in its external work. A businesslike and detailed discussion and exchange of opinions followed, in which both sides spoke for cooperation between the Moscow Patriarchate and Protestants in Germany. It was stressed that Christian cooperation becomes a priority today in the light of continued persecution against Christians in some countries, and these Christians stand in acute need of support which can be given only through joint efforts.

Hegumen Philip noted that Russian Germans who moved to Germany for permanent residence replenish communities of both the Russian Orthodox Church and Evangelical land churches. Cooperation between the Orthodox and the Lutherans should also develop in pastoral care of Russian Germans in the FRG.

Later that day the delegation of the Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg visited the Monastery of St. Daniel and St. Sergius’s Monastery of the Trinity as well as the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.