DECR chairman meets with Bulgarian ambassador to Russia

On November 30, 2016, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), met with Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Russia Boiko Kocev, at the DECR.

Participating in the meeting were also the Bulgarian Embassy’s first secretaries Vasilka Kehaiova and Katya Zhekova, as well as Archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for the far abroad.

Metropolitan Hilarion greeted the Bulgarian diplomat and the embassy’s staff members who accompanied him.

The DECR chairman pointed to the historical nature of relations between the peoples of Russia and Bulgaria and fraternal bonds between the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches, which, he said, are on the rise today.

The sides discussed various matters of mutual concern, including the celebrations devoted to the first anniversary of the canonization of St. Seraphim (Sobolev) and the development of pilgrimage to holy places in Russia and Bulgaria.

DECR Communication Service