Reception on the occasion of Russia Day held at the metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jaffa

On 11 June 2020, a gala reception on the occasion of a national holiday of the Russian Federation, Russia Day, was given at the metochion of the Ss Peter and Paul and St. Tabitha in Jaffa on the initiative of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the State of Israel and with the blessing of Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov) head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

Attending the reception were H.E. Anatoly Viktorov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Israel; H.E. Yevgeny Vorobiev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Israel; ambassadors of different state and representatives of diplomatic mission; Israeli Minister Gabi Ashkenazi of Foreign Affairs; Minister Ze’ev Elkin of Higher Education and a member of the Knesset; Ms. Sofa Landver, former minister of Aliyah and integration; and other political leaders of Israel.

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, also attended. The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission was represented by Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov) Hegumen Nikon (Golovko), secretary of the mission, and Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev, sacristan of the metochion who helped prepare the reception.

Ambassador Viktorov and Minister Ashkenazi delivered welcoming addresses.

After the official part His Holiness Patriarch Theophilos looked around the metochion. Archpriest Igor presented him with a hand-made wooden altar cross, Patriarchia.ru reports with reference to the official website of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.