His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus

On 6 December 2017, at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus was accompanied by Metropolitan Georgios of Paphos, Metropolitan Isaias of Tamasos and Oreini, Archimandrite Ioannis (Ioannou), Deacon Michalis Nikolaou, and Mr. Costas Kikis.

Representing the Russian Orthodox Church at the meeting were also Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Bishop Simon of Shakhty and Millerovo; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR vice-chairman; and Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.

Prior to the meeting, a prayer service was celebrated at the domestic Church of All Russian Saints.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill greeted the high guest and thanked him for taking part in the celebrations marking the centenary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church and of the enthronement of the Holy Patriarch Tikhon. As His Holiness noted, the election of the Patriarch, for the first time in two hundred years, had united the Church at the outset of the hardest period of persecutions for faith and social upheavals. Elevated to the Moscow throne, St. Tikhon by his own example inspired people to heroically confess their faith.

The participation of the Primates and representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches in the celebrations marking the momentous anniversary was a visible sign of inter-Orthodox unity, His Holiness emphasized.

“I thank you and your honourable delegation for the opportunity to meet with you in the capital city of Moscow, to celebrate together the Divine Liturgy, to partake of one Chalice, and to have a chance to conduct unofficial and official negotiations,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill continued, “Through such prayerful communion, through the open brotherly dialogue, the Local Orthodox Churches strengthen their relations and define their common attitude to both joyful and mournful events of our shared Orthodox life – the life of the Universal Orthodoxy.”

His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos thanked His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for the invitation to attend the Moscow celebrations and for the warm hospitality.

During the meeting that followed the prayer service, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said, addressing His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos, “For many centuries, our Churches were bound by good, strong relationships that have become particularly active in recent decades, when the flow of the Russian tourists visiting Cyprus has increased and the number of the Russian people choosing your beautiful island as the place of permanent residence has grown. We know that the Church of Cyprus always lovingly accepts believers from Russia who fill churches in Cyprus these days. And in this good attitude towards the Russian flock I see your personal merit. The Russian people visit ordinary parish churches and monasteries, as well as your cathedral, and I thank you for giving them an opportunity to hear their native language and pray in the Church Slavonic language.”

The Primate of the Russian Church especially noted the opening of the Russian Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew and All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land in the diocese of Tamasos with the participation of the President of Cyprus. “This church, built in the Russian style, is a symbol of spiritual ties between our fraternal peoples and a meeting point of the Russian and the Greek cultures,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said and expressed his gratitude to the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and Metropolitan Isaias of Tamasos.

The participants in the meeting discussed various issues of mutual interest and of  pan-Orthodox importance, as well as the Cyprus problem and the situation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine.

DECR Communication Service