Roman Catholic attendees of annual Summer Institute visit Department for External Church Relations

August 27, 2018 – A delegation of the clergy and laity of the Roman Catholic Church visited the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR).

With a blessing of the DECR chairman, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the guests were welcomed by Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations.

The delegation is on a visit to Russia from August 24 to September 2, 2018, for the annual Summer Institute. Representatives of the Holy See have come to Russia for the fourth time to broaden their knowledge of Orthodoxy, the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian culture. Among the attendees this year are Catholic clergy and laity from Italy, France, Spain, Romania and Czechia, who study at Pontifical universities in Rome, staff members of the Vatican units and representatives of the academic community of the Roman Catholic Church. The delegation is led by Bishop Didier Berthet of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, president of the Council for Promoting Christian Unity of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in France.

The meeting dealt with various issues of mutual relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church including common efforts for protecting Christians and advocating traditional Christian values.

DECR Communication Service