Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk completes his pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On 13 March 2015, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, while visiting Mt. Athos with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, arrived in the Russian Monastery of St Panteleimon after visiting the Iveron Monastery.

On March 14, Metropolitan Hilarion concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at the monastery’s cathedral with His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Concelebrating with Metropolitan Onufry, who was making a short pilgrimage to Mt. Athos, were also Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary, Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, rector of the Kiev Theological Seminary and Academy; Bishop Filaret of Lvov and Galich; Archimandrite Antony (Sevryuk), rector of the stavropegic Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine in Rome; archpriest Vladimir Kotsaba, secretary of the Academic Board of the Kiev Theological Academy; deacon Anatoly Churyakov, a DECR staff member; hierodeacons Gregory (Sokolov) and Nikolai (Ono), students of Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies; and ordained brethren of the monastery.

After the service the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan Hilarion, bade farewell to the brethren of the monastery and left the Holy Mount Athos.