DECR Chairman spoke at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest

On September 6th, 2021, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who is currently in Hungary with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, opened the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, presenting a report on the Orthodox understanding of the Eucharist.

The event took place at one of the largest exhibition centers in Hungary, Hungexpo.

During his speech, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that although the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are not in Eucharistic communion, they are united by faith in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of Eucharist. This faith has found a special expression in the liturgical and theological tradition of the Orthodox Church which understands the Divine Liturgy as the pinnacle of liturgical life - a Divine service that overcomes spatial and temporal limitations.

Speaking about the representation of the Eucharist in the Orthodox art, the Hierarch especially emphasized the traditional iconography of the Communion of the Apostles, describing it as a vivid expression of faith in the Eucharist as a force that creates the unity of the Church.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk presented the patristic understanding of the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ as the main means of achieving deification, which is the goal of Christian life. Particular attention in the speech of the DECR Chairman was paid to the liturgical features of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church, allowing believers to become familiar with the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven while still on earth.

At the end of his speech, Vladyka Hilarion emphasized that the Orthodox Church is the guardian of a rich tradition dating back to the Lord Jesus Christ and the early Fathers of the Church, and expressed gratitude to the organizers of the event for the opportunity to present this tradition to its participants.

On the sidelines of the Congress, the DECR Chairman spoke with Archbishop of Esztergom and Budapest Cardinal Peter Erdö and other hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church. He also gave interviews to a number of media outlets.

DECR Communication Service

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DECR Chairman spoke at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons