Department for External Church Relations
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Synod emphasizes importance of speaking at various international forums about discrimination of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine
During the session of the Holy Synod that took place under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on September 23-24, 2021, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations, delivered a report on his trip to Jordan.
On August 5, 2021, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the DECR chairman visited Amman, the capital of Jordan, and met with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine.
The Holy Synod members also heard a report from Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk on his working trip to the United States of America with the view of attending the International Religious Freedom Summit. With the blessing of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion was on a visit to the USA on July 10-16, 2021.
While in the USA, the DECR chairman met with His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada; Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad; Mr. Anatoly Antonov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States of America; Archpriest Chad Hatfield, President of St. Vladimir’s Seminary in New York; Mr. Samuel Brownback, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; Mr. David Curry, President of Open Doors USA human rights organization; congressman Jim Slattery; Mr. Waldemar Herdt, member of the German Bundestag; Mr. Doug Burleigh, National Prayer Breakfast organizer; Mr. Robert Moynihan, founder of the Urbi et Orbi Foundation and editor-in-chief of Inside the Vatican Magazine; Mr. Lauren Libby, President of the Trans World Radio media company; and Mr. Nick Hall, leader of the youth evangelistic organization PULSE.
On July 14, the DECR chairman spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington. In his presentation Metropolitan Hilarion dwelt on the discrimination of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and on the persecutions, to which Christians are subjected in other countries.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed its approval for the outcome of the trips of Metropolitan Hilarion. Based on the results of the DECR chairman’s visit to the USA, the participants in the meeting noted the importance of speaking at various international forums about the discrimination of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.
DECR Communication Service
Patriarch
Department Chairman
Sermons
24.01.2021
06.11.2020