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On March 24, 2017, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR) met with the newly appointed Ambassador of Switzerland to Russia, H. E. Yves Rossier, at the DECR.

Present at the meeting was Archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for the far abroad.

DECR chairman warmly welcomed the guest to the synodal department – the Church’s ‘ministry for foreign affairs’. He shared with his interlocutor his experience of teaching at the University of Fribourg, a renowned European center of education and research. In the course of their talk, Metropolitan Hilarion told the high-ranking diplomat about the history of relationships between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, including their past divisions, theological differences and the present cooperation in various areas of social development.

They discussed prospects for further cooperation between the Swiss embassy in Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, including in the area of academic contacts. In this connection, His Eminence Hilarion told his guest about the history of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies, of which he is rector.

The ambassador, on his part, expressed the Swiss diplomatic mission’s willingness to promote the development of inter-Christian cooperation with the Russian Church.

DECR Communication Service