Department for External Church Relations
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with delegation of Georgian Orthodox Church
On 6 December 2017, at the Patriarchal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the delegation of the Georgian Orthodox Church which had arrived in Moscow to take part in the celebrations marking the centenary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The delegation included Metropolitan Theodore of Akhaltsikhe and Tao-Klarjeti, Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaishi, and Bishop Vakhtang of Nikortsminda.
Representing the Russian Orthodox Church were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Roman of Yakutsk and Lensk; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR vice-chairman; Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations; and Deacon Feodor Shulga, DECR staff member.
Addressing the guests, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in particular, “I thank you for visiting Moscow on the occasion of a memorable date – the centenary of the election of St. Tikhon to the Patriarchal Throne. We regret that His Holiness and Beatitude could not be here, but we understand it and thank him for sending such respectable delegation.”
As His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted, the contemporary history of the Russian Church is intertwined with the contemporary history of the Georgian Church. “The tragic events that followed St. Tikhon’s election, the persecution of the Orthodox Church, affected both Russia and Georgia,” His Holiness said, “Those were common ordeals, and there was a common response to those ordeals – together we prayed and worked. We had a high level of mutual support and solidarity.”
His Holiness shared with the representatives of the Georgian Church his recollections of cooperating with her Primate within the framework of the World Council of Churches and at many other conferences and pan-Orthodox meetings. “Our Churches have always expressed similar or very close positions. It was clearly manifested during the preparation for the Crete Council. I believe that thanks largely to the position of our Churches, no divisions occurred with regard to the Council that could have darkened the life of the Local Orthodox Churches,” the Primate of the Russian Church said.
The participants in the meeting discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest.
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