His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent Paschal greetings to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent Paschal greetings to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches: His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria; His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch; His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem; His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Iliya II of All Georgia; His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia; His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania; His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria; His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus; His Beatitude Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece; His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania; His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland; His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. The text reads as follows:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

By these life-asserting words I cordially greet you with the Triumph of Triumphs – the Feast of Holy Pascha.

On this day let us embrace one other joyously and glorify God “which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3) and made us “heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Tit 3:7).

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2), let us “be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love and be of the same mind one toward another” (Rom 12:10,16), in order to do all those things which are commanded us by the Lord (cf. Lk 17:10) and to bear witness to the evangelic truth before the world. I prayerfully wish you radiant Paschal joy from the All-Generous God and good health for successfully continuing your lofty and responsible Primatial ministry.

With brotherly love in Christ Risen,

+KIRILL

PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA