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On 9 October 2017, at the Patriarchal residence in Balamand, Lebanon, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch John X, received Hegumen Arseniy (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of the Great Antioch and All the East.

His Beatitude expressed his profound gratitude to the Russian Orthodox Church and its Primate, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, as well as to the leadership of the Russian Federation and to all Russian people for giving the unflagging support to the Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Syrian people in the ordeals that has befallen them in recent years.

The participants in the meeting discussed the programme and details of the visit to Russia of the delegation of the Church of Antioch led by His Beatitude Patriarch John. The visit will take place in early December 2017 and will be timed to the centenary of the restoration of Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Among other issues raised at the meeting were prospects of relocating the Representation of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarchal Throne of Antioch from Beirut back to Damascus, as well as various aspects of providing pastoral care to the Russian-speaking communities in Syria and Lebanon.

DECR Communication Service