His Holiness Patriarch Kirill chairs regular session of Supreme Church Council

On 7 September 2018, at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, the Supreme Church Council held its regular session under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill delivered an opening address.

Discussed at the meeting were various issues pertaining to the theological education. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, presented a report on master’s degree programmes and on the evaluation of graduation theses at the theological educational institutions. The participants in the meeting also heard reports on parish youth work.

The Supreme Church Council chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill consists of:

• Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate;
• Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations;
• Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church;
• Metropolitan Arseny of Istra, first Patriarchal vicar for Moscow;
• Metropolitan Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, chairman of the Synodal Mission Department;
• Metropolitan Merkury of Rostov and Novocherkassk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechization;
• Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailov, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Finance and Economic Administration;
• Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations with the Cossacks;
• Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov and Porkhov, chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture;
• Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism;
• Archbishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat;
• Archbishop Antony of Vienna and Budapest, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad;
• Bishop Irinarkh of Krasnogorsk, head of the Synodal Department for Ministry in Prisons;
• Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevo, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry;
• Bishop Mitrofan of Severomorsk and Umba, chairman of the Patriarchal Commission for Physical Education and Sport;
• Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church;
• Archpriest Sergy Privalov, chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies;
• Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, chairman of the Patriarchal Commission for Family and Protection of Motherhood;
• Archpriest Kirill Sladkov, acting chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs;
• Mr. Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media.

Invited to attend the session were Metropolitan Savva of Tver and Kashin, first deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Bishop Nikolai of Balashikha, head and editor-in-chief of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, chairman of the Expert Council on Church Art, Architecture and Restoration; Rev. Alexander Volkov, head of the Patriarchal Press Service; Hegumenness Ksenia (Chernega), head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Legal Service; Mr. Alexander Schipkov, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media; and Ms. Viktoriya Matanis, head of the Department of Journalism at the Russian State Social University.

Patriarchal Press Service/
DECR Communication Service