Department for External Church Relations
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Metropolitan Hilarion takes part in reflection-action conferences devoted to 140th anniversary of Synodal version of the Bible
On October 4, a reflection-action conference devoted to the 140th anniversary of the Russian Synodal version of the Bible was held in Moscow. It was organized by the Christian Inter-Confessional Advisory Committee (CICAC).
Among the participants in the conference, which was held at the Russian Federation Public Chamber, were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations (DECR), rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies (CMI) and chairman of the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission; Archbishop Paul Pezzi, ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow; Archbishop Dietrich Brauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia; S. Ryakhovsky, presiding bishop of the Russian Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), A. Smirnov, chairman of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Dr. N. Drozdov; Rev. Igor Kowalewski, general secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Russia; Archpriest Dimitry Yurevich, lecturer at St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and other representatives of the Christian confessions – members of the CICAC.
Greeting the gathering, Metropolitan Hilarion said in particular, ‘We are delighted at the opportunity to talk about that which is our common heritage – the Bible in its Synodal version. It is read in translation by an absolute majority of our believers, not only Orthodox but also Catholic and Protestant.
‘One hundred forty years ago, the translation of Holy Scriptures into Russian was completed. It was done under the active guidance of St. Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow. During the conference, we will have an opportunity to learn about the role of this outstanding church leader in the translation of Holy Scriptures.
‘And certainly, representatives of the confessions will share their experience of work with the Synodal version in their communities.
‘The Synodal version was a common property of Christians during the time of persecutions, and among them were not only Christians, but also people of the Catholic Church and Protestant and other communities. It gives our meeting today a special meaning’.
The DECR chairman also thanked the Russian Federation Public Chamber for hosting the conference.
Archbishop Paul Pezzi, in his turn, noted, ‘St. Jerome said that those who do not know Holy Scriptures cannot say they ostensibly know Christ. It is very joyful for us all that Holy Scriptures was translated into Russian 140 years ago. The Synodal version is of great importance to this day as it enables all those who know the Russian language to come close to the mystery of Jesus Christ’.
Messages of greeting were also brought by Archbishop Brauer, S. Ryakhovsky and Dr. N. Drozdov.
In conclusion of the first plenary session, Metropolitan Hilarion read a paper on the History and Importance of the Synodal Version of the Bible.
There was also a presentation of the conference’s collected papers ‘Modern Bible Studies and the Tradition of the Church’.
DECR Communication Service
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