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On 23 February 2011, in Geneva, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, met with Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

In the beginning of the talk, Metropolitan Hilarion shared his assessment of the WCC Central Committee session ended the day before. He expressed his concern over the representation of the Protestant Churches by extremely liberal delegates thus not reflecting the true situation in the Protestant world.

Rev. Dr. Tveit thanked Metropolitan Hilarion for hospitality accorded to him by the Russian Orthodox Church during his visit last June. He highly appreciated the activities and social ministry of the ROC. He added that he would remember for ever the feelings he experienced at the Butovo shooting range and the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia built near the Russian Golgotha. He underscored that the Russian Orthodox Church had an invaluable experience of survival in the state with militant atheism as its prevailing ideology. Dr. Tveit noted the importance of sharing this experience with other Christian Churches.

Plans of possible cooperation were discussed; particular attention was paid to the support of Christian Churches in the Middle East and the minority communities in the zones of conflict. Metropolitan Hilarion and the WCC General Secretary emphasized that common efforts made in this regard and active participation in the work for the sake of peace and justice could bring representatives of various traditions of Christianity close together.

Archpriest Mikhail Gundyaev, representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate at the WCC and international organization in Geneva, took part in the meeting.