His Holiness Patriarch Kirill presides over regular session of Supreme Church Council

On 25 July 2018, in the Hall of the Supreme Church Council of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia presided over a regular session of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In his opening address the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke on the celebrations that will mark the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. He said, in particular:

“May the Lord preserve our homeland, the whole historical Rus’, all the fraternal peoples who came out of the Baptismal Font in Kiev. God willing, we will solemnly celebrate this day in the city of Moscow. The divine services will also be celebrated in Kiev – the Mother of the Russian cities – where the Baptism took place. And we will hope that the celebrations marking the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia will help overcome the divisions, disagreements and schisms in the Ukrainian land. May the Lord preserve our land and our people. I wholeheartedly greet you with the coming feast that will mark the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia!”

The agenda of the meeting included the following items:

the implementation of decisions of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Bishops’ Council;

the introduction of uniform documents in theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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 Holy Synod’s Education Committee;
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 and Childhood;

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 chairman of the 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; Mr. Alexander Schipkov, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media; Mr. Denis Makarov of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church; and Mr. Roman Silantyev, consultant to the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media.

Patriarchal Press Service/
DECR Communication Service
Photo by the Patriarchal Press Service