Home page News
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with members of&nbs…

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with members of the Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq

On 21 November 2018, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with members of the Council of Church Leaders of Iraq.

Taking part in the meeting, which was held at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery, were Archbishop Avak Asadourian of the Iraqi diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and General Secretary of the Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq; Metropolitan Ghattaz Hazim of Baghdad and Kuwait, Antiochian Orthodox Church; Archbishop Mor Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf of Mosul, Kirkuk and the Kurdistan autonomous region, Syriac Orthodox Church; Bishop Mar Abrs Youkhanna of Erbil, Assyrian Church of the East; Archpriest  Sami Younan Alfred Ibraheem, Antiochian Orthodox Church; and the Rev. Mina Alorshalemy, representative of the Coptic Church in Iraq.

Also taking part in the meeting were Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov) DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; hieromonk Kirill (Peregudin) and Mr. Ruslan Akhmatkhanov of the same secretariat; Cor-Bishop Samano Odisho, rector of Assyrian church Mat Maryam in Moscow; and Ms Yu. Lapshina from the Middle East and North Africa department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill greeted the guests and shared with them his reminiscences of his visit to Iraq in 2002. “I visited Iraq, Mosul churches, monasteries and saw the rich spiritual life of your people. Soon after military forces invaded your country and life has changed. Economic sanctions followed, and Iraq underwent many bitter trials.”

The Primate of the Russian Church regrets that Iraq was not the sole victim of foreign aggression. He noted that in the present geopolitical context a state that makes world or regional impact often invades a weaker state that bringing chaos, migration crisis and humanitarian catastrophe. “Iraq is the most dramatic example. When I visited Iraq I was told that over a million and a half Christians lived there. Now they say that the number of Christians has decreased ten times,” His Holiness added and continued to say: “We highly appreciate the fact that despite the current difficult situation our Church develops relations with Christians in the Middle East. Recently, under my instructions, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, visited Damascus and took part in the high-level interreligious conference. It is very important to develop inter-Christian relations thus supporting Christians in the Middle East countries. Certainly, we attach great importance to the programs of humanitarian aid to your region. It concerns Syria in particular, but we are prepared to be active in Iraq as well.”

His Holiness mentioned a visit of hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), and Cor-Bishop Samano Odisho, a representative of the Assyrian Church of the East in Russia to Iraq last March with the purpose of making cooperation of the ROC with Christian Churches and other religious communities in Iraq more active.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed great concern about the destruction of Christian holy places in Iraq. He said: ‘We must do anything possible to restore the Christian holy sites in the Middle East and to bring back Christians to Iraq, Syria, and other places where they have lives and which they had to flee due to war and civil conflicts.”

Participants in the meeting expressed special gratitude for the visit to the Russian Embassy in Baghdad and to H.E. Maxim Maximov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iraq and to the Embassy staff.

In conclusion of the meeting His Holiness Patriarch Kirill underscored solidarity of the Russian Orthodox Church with the people of Iraq and said that contacts should be maintained which will allow implementing the concrete projects of help.

Share:
Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches сelebrate Liturgy at Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

25.04.2025

Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin

23.04.2025

A meeting of the Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches has taken place

22.04.2025

Сondolences of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the passing of Pope Francis

21.04.2025

His Holiness Patriarch celebrates Paschal vespers on Easter Sunday at Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

20.04.2025

Paschal Message by Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia

19.04.2025

On Good Friday the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Vespers with the Procession of the Burial Sheet of the Saviour at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow.

18.04.2025

On Thursday of Holy Week the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy and Office for the Consecration of Myrrh at Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

17.04.2025

Patriarch Kirill addresses Primates of Local Orthodox Churches, Christian Leaders, Heads of State, and International organizations regarding law banning the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church

11.04.2025

Primate of the Russian Church leads celebrations in Donskoy Monastery marking the centenary of Patriarch Tikhon’s demise

06.04.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his enthronement

29.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends condolences over devastating earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand

28.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his election as Primate of Albanian Orthodox Church

16.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends letter to His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch concerning tragic developments in Syria

11.03.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrates the Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral

09.03.2025

Metropolitan Antony of Volokolamsk celebrates Divine Liturgy at the church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome

27.04.2025

DECR Chairman attended the funeral of Pope Francis

26.04.2025

DECR Chairman attends farewell ceremony for Pope Francis

25.04.2025

DECR Chairman meets with Russian Ambassador to Italy

25.04.2025

DECR Chairman begins his visit to Italy and the Vatican

24.04.2025

First Hierarch of the Serbian Church visits Donskoy Monastery in Moscow

23.04.2025

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije visits Serbian Metochion in Moscow

23.04.2025

Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin

23.04.2025

DECR Chairman attends a meeting of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group

22.04.2025

A meeting of the Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches has taken place

22.04.2025

Delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church arrives in Moscow headed by His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia

21.04.2025

DECR Chairman expresses condolences on the passing of Pope Francis

21.04.2025

His Holiness Patriarch celebrates Paschal vespers on Easter Sunday at Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

20.04.2025

On Good Friday the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Vespers with the Procession of the Burial Sheet of the Saviour at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow.

18.04.2025

On Thursday of Holy Week the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy and Office for the Consecration of Myrrh at Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

17.04.2025

Metropolitan Hilarion: Many things in a person's life depend on faith

29.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Holy Spirit is the main treasure of the Christian soul

01.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: Holiness is a constant striving to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ

27.06.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: God does not want to condemn, but to save us

07.03.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord always grants to us the opportunity to display our talents

24.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord has imbued the waters of Jordan with his divine presence to wash away human sins

19.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: to repent means to change your way of life

17.01.2021

On commemoration day of St. Catherine, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk officiated at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr In-the-Fields  the representation of the Orthodox Church in America

07.12.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We can always show compassion for people

29.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates on commemoration day of St. Varlaam of Khutyn at the church of ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ icon of the Mother of God

19.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We should remember that the life of each human being is in the hands of God

06.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: For God there is nothing impossible

25.10.2020

Metropoplitan Hilarion: The cross which was an instrument of dishonourable execution becomes the symbol of salvation for millions of people

27.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Eucharist is the wedding feast, to which Lord Jesus Christ invites each of us

13.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Faith alone is not enough for salvation

30.08.2020

Page is available in the following languages
Feedback

Fields marked by * are mandatory required

Send a message
Рус Укр Eng Deu Ελλ Fra Ita Бълг ქარ Срп Rom عرب