Session of the Supreme Council of the Russian Orthodox Church takes place under chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

On 29 April 2015, a regular session of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church began its work at the Hall of the Supreme Church Council at the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

His Holiness opened the meeting and delivered an introductory address.

The Supreme Church Council consists of:

Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations

Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the ROC Publishing Council

Archbishop Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, chairman of the Synodal Department for Mission

Metropolitan Merkury of Rostov and Novocherkassk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Education and Catechization

Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomysk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations with the Cossacks

Archbishop Yevgeny of Vereya, chairman of the Holy Synod’s Education Committee

Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism

Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Finance and Economic Administration and head of the Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Institutions Abroad

Bishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat

Bishop Irinarkh of Krasnogorsk, head of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry

Bishop Ignaty of Vyborg and Priozersk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs

Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevo, chairman of the Synodal Department for Charity and Social Service

Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture

Archpriest Sergy Privalov, acting chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies

Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, chairman of the Patriarchal Commission for Family, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations

Mr. Vladimir Legoida, chairman of the Synodal Information Department.

Invited to attend the session were Metropolitan Arseny of Istra, the first Patriarchal vicar for Moscow; archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; archpriest Vladimir Siloviev, editor-in-chief of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Publishing House; and hegumeness Ksenia (Chernega), head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Legal Service.