Supreme Church Council holds first online session

On 11^th February 2021, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held its first online session.

The Primate of the Russian Church participated in the meeting remotely, from the Holy Synod’s historical hall at the Patriarchal residence in Peredelkino.

In his opening address His Holiness Patriarch Kirill raised a number of topical issues concerning the relationships between the Church and society.

Presented at the meeting, in particular, were reports prepared by the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media (“Assessment of Public Attitude Towards the Church: Major Challenges) and the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism (“Developing the System of Basic Theological Education for Monastics. 2020 Results and Prospects for 2021”).

The Supreme Church Council chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill consists of:

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations;

Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate;

Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church;

Metropolitan Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, chairman of the Synodal Department for Mission;

Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations with the Cossacks;

Metropolitan Mitrofan of Murmansk and Monchegorsk, chairman of the Patriarchal Commission for Physical Culture and Sport;

Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov and Porkhov, chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture;

Metropolitan Antony of Chersonesus and Western Europe, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad;

Metropolitan Yevgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, chairman of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechisation;

Archbishop Feognost of Kashira, chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism;

Bishop Irinarkh of Krasnogorsk, head of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry;

Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevo, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry;

Bishop Paramon of Naro-Fominsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Finance and Economic Administration;

Bishop Foma of Pavlovsky Posad, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat;

Bishop Serafim of Istra, chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs;

Bishop Stefan of Klin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies;

Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church;

Mr. Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media; and

Hegumenness Ksenia (Chernega), head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Legal Administration.

Taking part in the meeting were also Bishop Nikolai of Balashikha, head and editor-in-chief of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Publishing House; Bishop Savva of Zelenograd, deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Hegumen Peter (Yeremeyev), rector of the Russian Orthodox University; and Mr. Alexander Schipkov, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media.

Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia/

DECR Communication Service

Photo by Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia