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On November 17, 2018, during his visit to Damascus, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), met with the Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun.

They had a frank talk about the current situation in Syria and further prospects for interreligious dialogue. Metropolitan Hilarion informed the Grand Mufti that he came to Damascus as head of a Russian interreligious delegation with the aim to discuss further humanitarian projects for the Syrian people with heads and high-ranking representatives of Christian and Muslim communities in the country.

In his turn, Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun expressed gratitude for the aid and support given consistently by the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church from the very beginning of the armed conflict in 2011. The religious leader of Syrian Muslims recalled with warmth his recent visit to Russia and talk with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in 2018.

Participating in the meeting were also Metropolitan Niphon of Philippople, representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch See of Antioch; Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; and Sub-Deacon Vyacheslav Li.

DECR Communication Service