Department for External Church Relations
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with representatives of Patriarchate of Constantinople
On 24 May 2016, at the Patriarchal chambers of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit (Patriarchate of Constantinople) who had arrived in Moscow with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to attend the celebrations marking the Name Day of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas was accompanied by Protopresbyter Teodor Petrutiu, a cleric of the diocese of Detroit, Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Representing the Russian Orthodox Church at the meeting were also Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR vice-chairman; and archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.
Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit expressed his joy over an opportunity to come to Moscow for the celebrations marking the Name Day of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and to see the love of the Russian people for the Orthodox Church.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill warmly greeted the guests and asked them to convey his heartfelt gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople for sending the delegation to the Moscow celebrations.
His Holiness said he was glad that the visit to Russia made a favourable impression on the guests from the Patriarchate of Constantinople and noted that it was impossible to explain the changes occurred in the country by human efforts only. “Now our Church has universities of her own, as well as over 40 seminaries, a thousand monasteries, Orthodox TV-channels, journals, newspapers,” the Primate of the Russian Church said, “However, it is impossible to explain such large-scale transformations by organizational reasons only.”
The participants in the meeting also raised the issue of increasing de-Christianization of society in Western Europe and America.
“We are deeply worried to see what is going on in the Christian world,” His Holiness said, “You know better than I do about the ongoing de-Christianization of the European and American civilization. It is an apocalyptic scene: sin is affirmed by law… As you know, we underwent a period of state atheism. However, the moral paradigm remained Christian in its major aspects. This is what saved us: our literature and fine arts were permeated with Christian ideas, hence the morality of our people remained Christian.”
Also discussed at the meeting was the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council.
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