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On 19 March 2012, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, visited Riga with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Metropolitan Hilarion is accompanied by archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations; archpriest Antony Ilyin, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the European international institutions; Leonid Sevastyanov, executive director of the St Gregory the Theologian Charity Foundation; Igor Lapshin, a staff member of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Publishing House; and subdeacon Alexander Yershov.

Meeting Metropolitan Hilarion at the airport were Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia, Bishop Alexander of Daugavpils, and clerics of the Latvian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Hilarion and his suite visited the Russian Embassy and met with H.E. Alexander Veshnyakov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Latvia.

The DECR chairman also met with mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs at the Riga City Council. They were joined at the meeting by Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia, Bishop Alexander of Daugavpils, and archpriest Igor Yakimchuk.

After the meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion answered the questions from the Latvian mass media.