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On February 7, 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, met with Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, at the UN headquarters in New York. Present at the meeting were also Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, representative of the World Russian People’s Council at the UN, Rev. Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, Hierodeacon Ioann (Kopeikin), assistant to the DECR chairman, and Mr. Lukyantsev, secretary of the Russian Federation Representation at the UN.

Welcoming the guests from the Russian Orthodox Church, Mr. Akasaka pointed to the growing importance of religious factor in the world politics and the related significance of cooperation between world religious communities and the UN. Metropolitan Hilarion, in his turn, spoke of the efforts made by the Moscow Patriarchate to promote the idea of partnership between religious leaders and the UN in such areas as dialogue of civilizations, support for culture, protection of holy places, overcoming religious ignorance, and ensuring human rights. He mentioned in particular the initiative of the Russian Church to hold World Summits of Religious Leaders, which makes a notable contribution to the struggle against international terrorism exploiting people’s religious feelings.

They also discussed cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and UNESCO. The DECR chairman conveyed to Mr. Akasaka the proposals for the religious dimension of the work of the High Panel on Peace and Dialogue of Cultures. These proposals were adopted in partnership with UNESCO by the World Summit of Religious Leaders, which took place on April 26, 2010, in Baku.

The both parties expressed hope for further development of cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and UN institutions, especially through the Representation of the Word Russian People’s Council accredited at the UN.

DECR Communication Service