Department for External Church Relations
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s condolences over the death of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey
On 19 December 2016, as the result of a terrorist attack, Mr. Andrei Karlov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey, was assassinated in Ankara. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed condolences to his relatives and friends and to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Mr. Sergey Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Russian Federation
Dear Sergey Viktorovich,
It grieved my heart deeply to learn about the tragic death at a terrorist’s hands of Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey.
The Lord willed me to know the departed. I testify that in carrying out his lofty diplomatic service Andrei Gennadyevich tried to act according to his patriotic and religious beliefs. I remember with gratitude his unfailing willingness to help establish and promote dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the governmental authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where he worked as Ambassador of the Russian Federation in 2001-2006.
Please convey my most profound condolences to the spouse of the departed, Marina Mikhailovna, and to all his relatives and friends. May the Lord, Lover of mankind, grant unto them consolation in their sorrow and strength in this hard ordeal.
I am praying to the Merciful God that He give rest to the soul of the newly departed in the dwellings of the righteous, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, no sighing.
Memory eternal to God’s servant Andrei!
+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA
Patriarch
Sermons
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06.11.2020