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On 7 December 2017, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Yekaterinburg. The Primate of the Church of Jerusalem arrived in the city to attend the celebrations marking the commemoration day of St. Catherine, heavenly patroness of Yekaterinburg.

Concelebrating with Patriarch Theophilos were Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina (Church of Jerusalem), Archbishop Yustinian of Elista and Kalmykiya, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis (Church of Jerusalem), Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk, Bishop Innokenty of Nizhny Tagil and Serov, Bishop Mefody of Kamensk-Uralsky and Alapayevsk, and Bishop Yevgreny of Sredneuralsk.

After the service, Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye greeted the high guests and presented the Primate of the Church of Jerusalem with a pectoral cross and a panagia.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos thanked all those present for praying together on the commemoration day of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine who is venerated both in the East and in the West, “in the lands of the Orthodox peoples and remote missions, in parishes and monastic abodes.”

That same day later His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III met with Mr. Yevgeny Kuivashev, head of the region. The meeting took place at the residence of the governor of the Sverdlovsk Region.

In the evening, the Primate of the Church of Jerusalem took part in the grand meeting at the Sverdlovsk Philarmonic Hall, dedicated to the commemoration day of the heavenly patroness of the city.

On December 8, His Beatitude visited the memorial Church-on-Blood and the ‘Tsarsky’ Religious and Educational Centre.

The Primate of the Church of Jerusalem attended the annual diocesan assembly chaired by Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye. In his address to the pastors serving in the diocese of Yekaterinburg, His Beatitude Theophilos emphasized the importance of the celebrations marking the centenary of election and enthronement of the Holy Patriarch Kirill that had taken place in Moscow with the participation of the Primates and representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches.

In the evening of December 8, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine completed his visit to Yekaterinburg. He was seen off at the Koltsovo Airport by Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, clerics of the diocese, and representatives of the regional authorities.

DECR Communication Service

Based on the information from the website of the Yekaterinburg diocese