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On May 25, 2017, the Day of the Ascension of the Lord, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Grand Consecration of the church of the Resurrection of Christ and New Martyrs and Confessions of the Russian Land at the Sretensky stauropegial monastery in Moscow and presided over the Divine Liturgy at the newly consecrated church.

Present at the service was the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

After the liturgy a talk took place between the head of the state and Patriarch Kirill and hierarchs of the Russian Church Outside Russia led by Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, who came for the consecration of the church in the Sretensky monastery.

Addressing Metropolitan Hilarion and members of the ROCOR delegation, the Russian President said, ‘I would like to cordially greet you, to say thank you very much to you for what you are doing for Russian people who live abroad, and not only for this but also for your aspiration for the full-fledged restoration of unity between the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

‘It is extremely important for both our people, for our country and for the countries in which you live and work. Because such a living spiritual bond is very important, especially in today’s complicated world full of contradictions.

‘Today I have spoken about the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church; we can also speak of unity in a broader sense, in the humanitarian sense. The more so that all the world religions rest upon the so-called traditional values precisely the ones that you advocate.

‘I would like to tell you that you are always our welcome guests, even not guests but you are masters here. We are always glad to see you in Russia. Thank you very much’, the official portal of the Russian Orthodox Church reports with reference to Kremlin.ru.

DECR Communication Service

Patriarchal Press Service