Department for External Church Relations
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DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations meets with representative of the Ethiopian Church
On September 22, 2021, DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov) met with the deputy chancellor of the Ethiopian Church and dean of Addis-Ababa, Rev. Ueldejesus Sefugalato, at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In attendance there were also Mr. Znabuzenge Zaisa, staff member of the Embassy of the Federative Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in the Russian Federation; Mr. Hailejesus Asefa, representative of the Ethiopian diaspora in Moscow, and Mr. D. Arakelian, an adviser of the DECR secretariat for inter-Christian relations.
Rev. Ueldejesus Sefugalato came to Russia with the aim to discuss issues concerning further development of relations between the Ethiopian Church and the Moscow Patriarchate. The guest told Father Stephen about a difficult situation experienced today by Ethiopian Christians due to the continued civic conflict in Ethiopia. Quite often in the course of armed clashes, ancient Christian shrines run the risk of being damaged. He noted that the faithful of the Ethiopian Church pin special hopes on the support of the Russian State as the main defender of suffering Christians today and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Hieromonk Stephen, in his turn, assured the guest of invariable support citing the actions of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia aimed to protect Ethiopian Christians and all the Ethiopian people. He stressed the historical nature of relations between the two fraternal nations of Russia and Ethiopia and informed the guest about the work plans for Ethiopia to be implemented through the Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Church and the Interreligious Working Group for Defending the Rights of the Faithful against Discrimination and Xenophobia under the Presidential Council for Cooperation with Religious Organizations.
The DECR secretary also added that the Russian Orthodox Church, traditionally restraining herself from making statements in support of particular political forces, is praying for an early restoration of sound peace and brotherly love in the Ethiopian society and for the strengthening of the Ethiopian statehood, one of the oldest in the African continent.
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