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On July 66, 2016, Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations (DECR), met with the State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ives Rossier. The Swiss side was also represented by the Swiss ambassador in Moscow Pierre Helg, the deputy head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy in Russia Patrick Franzen, the chief of state secretary staff Ms. Nora Kronig Romero, and the deputy regional coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Jeremy Bron. Present at the meeting were Archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for the far-abroad, and Ms. Olga Mazur, DECR secretariat for the far-abroad.

Archimandrite Philaret welcomed the guests to the synodal department responsible for the external relations of the Russian Orthodox Church. He spoke about the place and role of the Church in today’s society and relations with the state. They also discussed the Synaxis that took place in Crete, the historic meeting between His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis of Rome in Havana, the miserable situation of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa as well as other matters of mutual concern.

DECR Communication Service