Department for External Church Relations
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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby sends letter to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the centenary of martyrdom of the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth
On 18 July 2018, the centenary of the martyrdom in Alapayevsk of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, the head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, sent a letter to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The message reads, in particular: “A grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and kinswoman of the blessed martyrs Nicholas, Alexandra and their family, St Elizabeth was a model of Christian charity, service and fortitude.”
As the Archbishop of Canterbury noted in his letter, there is a statue of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth on the west front of Westminster Abbey, among other martyrs of the twentieth century.
The head of the Anglican Communion mentioned that during his visit to Moscow in 2017 he had visited Ss Martha and Mary Convent founded by Grand Duchess Elizabeth. “My party was greeted with true hospitality and I was moved by the devotion of the sisters in their ministry with orphans and disabled children,” the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote in his letter.
“Your Holiness, today we commemorate St Elizabeth and, yesterday, the Russian Imperial Family. As I recall them and their witness in my prayers I pray also for you, for your ministry, for the strengthening of the relationship between our churches,” Archbishop Justin Welby wrote in conclusion, addressing the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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