Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk celebrates Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

On 23 January 2020, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), currently in the Holy Land with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, celebrated together with Archbishop Aristobulos of Madavia the Divine Liturgy at the Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Concelebrating with the archpastors were Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov), head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem; Hegumen Feofan (Lukianov), head of the DECR protocol section; Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; Hieromonk Dometian (Markarian), deputy head of the Mission; hieromonk Afanasy (Bukin), treasure of the Mission, and clerics of the Patriarchates of Jerusalem, Moscow and Romania.

The Liturgy was celebrated in the Greek, Church Slavonic and Romanian languages.

Attending the service were Mr. Beglov, the governor of St. Petersburg; Mr. Makarov, chair of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, and other officials from the city on the bank of the Neva River.