Department for External Church Relations
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï
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On 15 November 2011, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï.
They were joined in the meeting by Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of Babylon and the Chaldeans; Cardinal Antonios I Naguib, Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria; Patriarch Gregory III Lakham of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Yunan of the Syrian Catholic Church; and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal; Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, apostolic nuncio in Lebanon; and the retired Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill was accompanied by the members of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï greeted His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and informed him of discussions at the 20th Conference of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East dedicated to the situation of Christians in the Middle East. He emphasized the necessity of cooperation among different confession in preserving the presence of Christians in the region,
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said that Lebanon for the Russians has been a part of the Holy Land, shared his recollections of the visit of Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1987, and noted good relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Maronite Church.
His Holiness mentioned difficult theological issues on the agenda of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and expressed his conviction in theological dialogue being not the only kind of cooperation. Patriarch Kirill believes that common work for the sake of upholding Christian values in the modern world is equally important.
‘The problem of Christianophobia is very acute today; common efforts of Christians of different confessions are essential for to hold out against this dangerous phenomenon,’ His Holiness is said and added that the Russian Orthodox Church pays great attention to the problem of Christianophobia and will hold an international conference on this problem in Moscow on November 30-December 1. Patriarch Kirill invited the head of the Maronite Church to take part in the conference or visit Moscow later.
As a keepsake of their meeting, His Holiness presented the head of the Maronite Church with silver chalices with depictions of the major holy places in Moscow. All participants in the meeting received the book, “Freedom and Responsibility”, in the Arabic language.
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