Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery is consecrated

On 27 December 2011, prior to the session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery was consecrated after its reconstruction. Archpriest Vladimir Divakov, Patriarch’s secretary for Moscow, said a thanksgiving prayer at the home chapel of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land.

Praying at the service were His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia; permanent and temporary members of the Holy Synod; Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat; archimandrite Alexiy (Polikarpov), abbot of St. Daniel’s Monastery; hegumen Savva (Tutunov), deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; and Vladimir Legoida; chairman of the Synodal Information Department.

In 2009 the decision was made to reconstruct the Synodal residence, in which official receptions and meetings used to be held.  The residence will be a venue for the meetings of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and will house the Chancellery, the Administrative Secretariat, and other structures of the Moscow Patriarchate. The sessions of the Holy Synod will take place at the Hall of Synods.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that this building will be the main Synodal residence, as it was intended in 1988, and congratulated all those present with its consecration.