DECR chairman greets state leaders of the foreign countries with Easter

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, has sent Easter greetings to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and North Ireland; King Felipe VI of Spain;

King Philippe of Belgium; King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands; Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein; President Alexander van der Bellen of the Republic of Austria; President Sergio Mattarella of the Italian Republic; Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany; President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic; President Mauricio Makri of the Argentine Republic; President Raul Castro Ruz of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba; President Gjorge Ivanov of the Republic of Macedonia; President Aleksandar Vučić of the Republic of Serbia; President Filip Vujanović of Montenegro;President Andrej Kiska of the Slovak Republic; President Borut Pahor of the Republic of Slovenia; President Miloš Zeman of the Czech Republic; President Prokopis Pavlopoulos of the Hellenic Republic; President Ruman Radev of the Republic of Bulgaria; President Nicos Anastasiades of the Republic of Cyprus; President Klaus Iohannis of Romania; President Andrzej Duda of the Republic of Poland; President Raimonds Vejonis of the Republic of Latvia; President Dalia Grybauskaitė of the Republic of Lithuania; President Kersti Kaljiuland of the Republic of Estonia; President Armen Sarkissian of the Republic of Armenia; President Igor Dodon of the Republic of Moldova; President Aleksandr Lukashenko of the Republic of Belarus; Tsar Simeon II, head of the Bulgarian royal family; Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, head of the Imperial House of  Hohenzollern; and other state and public leaders. The text reads as follows:

Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on Christ’s Resurrection – the holy feast of the Passover!

During these festive days the hearts of millions of people throughout the world are overfilled with the joy of the risen Christ. For every one of the faithful today’s feast bears witness to the approach of everlasting life with God, the overcoming of sinful alienation between people and the Creator and each other. Inspired by the message of Christ’s Resurrection, we are called upon to bring into the world around us the light of faith, to enable the affirmation of the Gospel ideals in our public, family and private lives, and to serve our neighbor in word and deed.

I wish you strong health, peace and prosperity, and aid from the risen Saviour in your labours and ministry.

Respectfully,

+ Hilarion

Metropolitan of Volokolamsk

Chairman

Department for External Church Relations

Metropolitan of Volokolamsk