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On April 19, 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations ( DECR) met with Finland’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation, H. E. Mikko Hautala, at the DECR.

Participating in the meeting were also Ms. Maria Koskela, minister-councilor of the Finnish diplomatic mission in Moscow, and Deacon Andrey Titushkin. DECR secretariat for the far abroad.

Metropolitan Hilarion warmly welcomed the high-ranking diplomat to the oldest synodal institution, which is a church analogue of ministry of foreign affairs.

The ambassador, in his turn, thanked His Eminence for the opportunity for meeting and conveyed warm greetings from heads of religious communities in Finland.

The archpastor informed his interlocutor about the life and today’s work of the Russian Orthodox Church, church-state relations and interreligious dialogue in Russia.

They also discussed common European problems concerning the spreading threat of terrorism and the migration crisis. In their dialogue they dealt in particular with the situation of Christians in the Middle East and touched upon matters concerning the bilateral relations.

DECR Communication Service