DECR chairman begins his visit to Poland

On 31 May 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), arrived in Warsaw with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland. Metropolitan Hilarion is accompanied by archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.

That same day, the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church received the DECR chairman. Metropolitan Hilarion conveyed cordial greetings of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to His Beatitude. During a lengthy talk, the host and the guest discussed prospects of the development of bilateral contacts between the two Local Churches, topical issues of inter-Orthodox relations and other topics of mutual interest.