Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk meets with His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania

On 5 September 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, began his pilgrimage to Romania with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Accompanying Metropolitan Hilarion on his visit are archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, and Mr. Alexander Yershov, assistant to the DECR chairman.

In Bucharest, at the premises of the Romanian Patriarchate, the DECR chairman met with His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania.

They were joined at the meeting by archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, and deacon Eugene Rogoti, a staff member of the Romanian Patriarchate.

During the meeting which lasted more than two hours, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Hilarion exchanged their opinions on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.

The DECR chairman visited the Patriarchal Cathedral of Ss. Constantine and Helen and venerated its shrines, the relics of the holy tsars, equal-to-the-apostles, as well as of Sr. Nectarios of Aegina and St. Demetrius of Basarbov.

That same day, Metropolitan Hilarion and his suite left for Iași. At the Iași airport they were met by the Archbishop of Iași, Metropolitan Teofan of Moldova and Bucovina, and clerics of the Iași diocese.

Metropolitan Hilarion, accompanied by Metropolitan Teofan, visited the Cathedral of the Meeting of the Lord, where he venerated the relics of the Holy Martyr Paraskeva of Serbia.