His Holiness Patriarch Kirill opens first session of the Holy Synod in Yekaterinburg
On 14 July 2018, at the ‘Tsarsky’ Religious and Educational Centre in Yekaterinburg near the Memorial Church on-the-Blood in honour of All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land, a session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church began under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church opened the meeting, saying:
“I cordially greet the permanent and the temporary members of the Holy Synod!
“For the first time a session of the Holy Synod is held in Yekaterinburg. It was through the efforts of Vladyka Vikenty that this building was constructed as a possible residence of the Patriarch and a venue for the sessions of the Holy Synod, and today we hold the first meeting in this building.
“We arrived in Yekaterinburg to commemorate a tragic jubilee – the centenary of the martyrdom of the Royal family. The programme of our visit to the land of Yekaterinburg will include many events. We will have an opportunity to pray both in Alapayevsk and in Yekaterinburg, and to lead a procession with the cross to the monastery in Ganina Yama, devoting these days to commemorating one of the gravest pages in our national history.
“Hereby I am opening a regular session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
The permanent members of the Holy Synod are Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine; Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna; Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldova; Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, head of the Metropolitan area in the Republic of Kazakhstan; Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Metropolitan area of Central Asia; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus; and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations.
Summoned for the summer session (March-August) are Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea, Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsk, Archbishop Matfey of Anadyr and Chukotka, Bishop Alexander of Daugavpils and Rēzekne, and Bishop Nestor of Korsun.
Patriarchal Press Service/
DECR Communication Service