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On October 19, 2015, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman, met with the Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy General Secretary Mr. Ioannis Amanatidis, on the sidelines of the forum ‘Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Co-existence in the Middle East’, which took place in Athens.

Mr. Amanatidis told Metropolitan Hilarion about prospects for the Cross-Year of Greece and Russia planned for 2016. They expressed conviction that the holding of the cross-year will contribute to active development of the bilateral relations.

Another important event for the both sides is the millennium of the Russian Athonite monasticism to be broadly celebrated in Russia. Metropolitan Hilarion informed his interlocutor about the events planned for this remarkable date in Russia and the progress made in the preparation of the celebration on Mount Athos.

Mr. Amanatidis, on his part, told the guest of the Russian Orthodox Church about the work of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, which unites parliaments in 27 countries. Greece has maintained cooperation with Russia in this organization for already 22 years now. As the Greek diplomat stressed, good inter-parliamentary relations have been established in this organization, while its conferences and publishing projects have promoted mutual understanding between the Greek and Russian peoples.

Participating in the meeting were also the Rev. Dimitry Safonov, head of the DECR section for interreligious contacts, the Rev. Anatoly Churyakov, DECR, and staff members of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After the meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion departed for Rome to attend the 14th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church as an observer from the Moscow Patriarchate.

DECR Communication Service