Department for External Church Relations
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Easter celebrated in China
DECR Communication Service, 09/05/2024
The radiant Feast of the Resurrection of Christ was celebrated in various cities of the People’s Republic of China.
On the night of May 5th, 2024, Orthodox Christians residing in Beijing celebrated Easter at the Holy Dormition Church. The festive divine service brought together over three hundred believers. Among them were local Russian residents and representatives of other countries, such as Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, and Zambia, as well as the Orthodox Chinese descendants of the Albazinian Cossacks.
“It is a special day for all Christians. Our joy in the Risen Christ the Saviour is ineffable. This is a feast that unites us all. We are so different; we come fr om different countries, but are united in faith. This gives even more emphasis to the joy we all feel in our hearts today,” TASS news agency cites the church rector, Hieromonk Innokenty (Kolesnikov).
The Holy Dormition Church of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission was built at its current site in Beijing in 1903. After the Mission was closed in 1954, the church territory was transferred to the USSR Embassy and the building was no longer used for its intended purpose; it was converted into a garage for the Embassy. From 2006 onwards, restoration of the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos was an issue on the agenda of Russia-China negotiations at the top and high levels. Devoting a lot of attention to the matter was the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin. On October 13th, 2009, the restored church was consecrated by Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, now Metropolitan of Ryazan and Mikhaylov. On the day following the consecration, Mr Vladimir Putin, back then Chairman of the Russian Government, who was in China on an official visit, visited the Holy Dormition Church. He presented an icon of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God as a gift for the restored church.
On Easter night, the divine service was celebrated at the Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in Harbin by its rector, Priest Alexander Yu Shi, graduate of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Attending it were some 60 parishioners – citizens of China and other countries. The Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God is the only functioning Orthodox church in Harbin wh ere divine services are celebrated on a regular basis.
Pascha was also celebrated at the Church of Ss. Peter and Paul in Hong Kong. Officiating at the festive divine service was its rector, Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev.
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