Department for External Church Relations
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Archbishop of Canterbury visits Ss. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies
On 22 November 2017, during his first visit to Russia, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited Ss. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies.
At the entrance to the Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist in-the-Woods he was met by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, rector of the Theological Institute, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. Metropolitan Hilarion told the guest about the history of the Patriarchal Metochion in Chernigovsky side street in Moscow and about the restoration works there, completed recently. The Archbishop of Canterbury prayed at the particle of the holy relics of St. John the Baptist and at the myrrh-pouring Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
A meeting with the head of the Anglican Communion took place at the assembly hall of the Theological Institute. Among those present were Archbishop Yelisey of Sourozh; Mr. Ian Hill, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of New Zealand to the Russian Federation; Mr. Robert Meade, deputy head of the Irish diplomatic mission to the Russian Federation; Mr. Alexey Lubkov, rector of the Moscow Pedagogical State University; as well as staff members, faculty and students of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute and representatives of the Department for External Church Relations, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, and the Higher School of Economics.
Opening the meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion said in particular, “One of the spheres in which the Department for External Church Relations carries out its activities is the coordination of relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England. And at the Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies we actively promote academic exchange. Archbishop Justin Welby decided to visit the Theological Institute in order to meet with its faculty and students and deliver a short lecture. Yesterday, the Archbishop had a meeting with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, during which a joint declaration was signed. The document calls upon the international community to support the persecuted Christians in the Middle East. That news attracted attention throughout the world.”
In his address, the Archbishop of Canterbury focused on the Christian anthropology in the theological and philosophical perspective, as well as on the outcomes of the Orthodox-Anglican theological dialogue.
Press Service of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies/
DECR Communication Service
Patriarch
Department Chairman
Sermons
24.01.2021
06.11.2020