DECR chairman: Athos has great missionary potential for our people

The Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations pays special attention to the development of relationships with the Monastery of St Panteleimon, as well as with other monasteries on Mount Athos, the DECR chairman, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, noted in his speech at the grand meeting on the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of the DECR’s foundation.

“Russia-Athos relations date back to more than ten centuries and continue to develop, contributing to the spiritual growth of the faithful of our Church and the preservation of the unique status of the Holy Mountain,” the archpastor said. According to him, the recent years, marked by close contacts between the Russian Church and Athos, have revealed its great missionary potential for the Russian people, as has been shown, for instance, by bringing to Russia such revered Athonite shrines as the Sash of the Most Holy Theotokos, the head of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, and others.

“The large-scale celebration of the millennium of the Russian monks’ presence on Mt Athos, both in Russia and other countries within the canonical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, serves the same missionary goal,” Metropolitan Hilarion continued and pointed out that the jubilee of the Russian Athos received support of common people, as well as of Russia’s state authorities, public figures, entrepreneurs, the workers of art and the mass media.

DECR Communication Service