His Beatitude Patriarch John meets with the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations
On October 20, 2020, with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk arrived in Damascus for a working visit.
On October 21, 2020, Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Patriarchal Residence in the Syrian capital city to meet with His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.
Participating in the meeting from the Orthodox Church of Antioch were also patriarchal vicars Bishop Moses of Darayya, Bishop Luke of Saidnaya, Bishop Aphrem of Seleucia, and head of the Patriarchate of Antioch department for ecumenical relations and development Archimandrite Meletios (Shattakhi). From the Russian Orthodox Church there were Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarchal See of Antioch, and Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.
Metropolitan Hilarion conveyed to His Beatitude brotherly wishes from the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
They discussed the development of bilateral relations between the Patriarchates of Antioch and Moscow, the humanitarian projects implemented with the assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church and problems involved in the inter-Orthodox agenda. His Beatitude Patriarch John expressed special gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church for the support they give to Christians in the Middle East.
After the negotiations, the participants visited the Patriarchal Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus.
DECR Communication Service