His Holiness Patriarch Kirill chairs session of Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church

On 29 December 2016, a regular session of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, last in 2016, took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Prior to the meeting, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the members of the Supreme Church Council, saying in particular:

“At the end of the year 2016 there is a firm impression that despite many sorrows and hardships we all have experienced this year has been successful. Perhaps, by God’s mercy, there have been found ways to address the biggest problems facing our country and the whole world. I mean, first and foremost, a very dangerous political situation in the Middle East, in Syria.”

In his address, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill dwelt on the ministry of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, “an organic part of the Moscow Patriarchate, that throughout the year has been carrying out its peacebuilding mission, regardless of any dangers and hardships it had to endure.”

“I would like to mention, in particular, the All-Ukrainian procession with the cross, which has become a momentous event not only in the life of the Church, but also in the life of all the Ukrainian people and their state,” His Holiness said, “Ukraine and the whole world have seen that our Church takes a truly peacemaking position and is far from playing any political games and from taking advantage of the political situation in the country, pursuing one goal only – to help reconcile her people.”

“I believe that the release of the captive that occurred at the end of this year at the request of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry was an important signal for all those who sincerely seeks peace in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not only praying, but also acting so that peace may be restored in the Ukrainian land,” Patriarch Kirill added.

His Holiness presented the agenda of the meeting. The participants will hear reports concerning the implementation of decisions of the Supreme Church Council and the Bishops’ Council, as well as reports by Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuyevo on the reorganization of diocesan departments and on additions to the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the work of diocesan councils, and a report by Bishop Irinarkh of Krasnogorsk on the activities of assistants to heads of local offices of the Federal Service for the Execution of Sentences. The members of the Supreme Church Council will also discuss some other topical issues of church life.

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 Klement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the ROC Publishing Council;
Metropolitan Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, chairman of the Synodal Missionary 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;
Archbishop Yevgeny of Vereya, chairman of the Holy Synod’s Education Committee;
Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism;
Bishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat;
Bishop Irinarkh of Krasnogorsk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry;
Bishop Ignaty of Vyborg and Priozersk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs;
Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry;
Bishop Tikhon of Yegorievsk, chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture;
Bishop Antony of Bogorodsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad;
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;
Mr. Vladimir Legoida, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations.

Invited to attend the session were Bishop Savva of Voskresensk, first deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church; archpriest Vladimir Siloviev,  editor-in-chief of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate; Hegumeness Ksenia (Chernega), head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Legal Service; Hierodeacon Sergy (Turkeyev), director of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Pilgrimage Centre; and Mr. A. Schipkov, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations.

DECR Communication Service/

Patriarchal Press Service