His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada celebrates on the dedication day at the Moscow metochion of the Orthodox Church in America
On 7 December 2017, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada officiated at the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr – the Representation of the Orthodox Church in America.
Among those concelebrating with Metropolitan Tikhon were Bishop John of Naro-Fominskб administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk, rector of St. Tikhon’s church in Ancorage, members of the delegation of the Orthodox Church in America, clerics of St. Catherine’s church and clerics of other Moscow churches.
The diplomacy corps was represented by H.E. John P. Kur, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Russia; H.E. Norma Bertha Pensado Moreno, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico to Russia; Minister Counselor for political affairs Christopher T. Robinson of the Embassy of the United States of America; and Minister Counselor Stephane Joban of the Embassy of Canada.
After the Divine service the First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church in America warmly greeted his concelebrants and the worshippers, congratulated them and especially all women named Yekaterina on the dedication day.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for his invitation to attend festivities dedicated to the centenary of the restoration of the Patriarchate. He noted his visit to Moscow has given him another opportunity to officiate at the divine service in St. Catherine’s church which for many years has been the centre of pastoral care for the English-speaking Orthodox faithful and a witness of close brotherly relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.
His Beatitude introduced Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk elected by him and approved by the Synod of Bishops as rector of the metochion and representative of the OCA to the ROC.