Department for External Church Relations
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Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk visits Russian House in Buenos Aires and meets with compatriots
DECR Communication Service, 10.02.2023.
On February 9, the round-table conference on “The Russian Orthodox Church and Compatriots: Experience of Cooperation in Latin American Countries” completed its work, and Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, visited the Russian House in Buenos Aires (Russian Centre of Science and Culture).
After a short tour around the House given by its director, Ms Olga A. Muratova, Metropolitan Anthony met with representatives of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots’ Organizations and the Youth Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots’ Organizations in Argentina.
Attending the meeting were also Bishop Leonid of Argentina and South America; Mr. V. Mitrofanov, deputy director of the Department for Relations with Compatriots Abroad, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Konstantin P. Kozhanov, deputy director of the Department for Liaisons with the Constituent Entities, the Parliament and Public Associations; Ms Silvana V. Yarmolyuk, chair of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots’ Organizations; members of the church delegation from Moscow; clergymen of the Diocese of Argentina and South America from different countries of the region; and compatriots living in the capital of Argentina.
Metropolitan Anthony greeted the participants in the meeting. In his address he said that friendly relations between Russia and Latin American countries are maintained not only at the state level, but also through academic contacts and public relations. He added that the authorities of the Russian Orthodox Church were paying special attention to the region.
The DECR chairman said that it was not fortuitous that Buenos Aires has been chosen for holding the round-table conference for the second time, as there is the largest Russian diaspora in Latin America here.
“I know that the movement of compatriots in Argentina has been actively developing in recent years. Its success has been shown by electing Ms Silvana Yarmolyuk a member of the World Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots. I congratulate you on the admission to Russian citizenship granted to you by Presidential decree last November,” said Metropolitan Anthony.
He believes that due to the vast geographical distance between Latin America and Russia as well as other countries of historical Rus’ it is very important to undertake further efforts to strengthen the ties of compatriots with the Motherland and to preserve the Russian language, Russian religious and cultural traditions and hand them down to the future generations. Many people came to Argentina and other countries of the world from Russia in the 1990s. The second generation speaks little or no Russian. So, it is necessary to build up libraries of classic, spiritual and moral books as well as multimedia libraries at parishes and in the organizations of compatriots.
Leaders of the organizations of compatriots in Latin America spoke about cooperation between the Church, the state and their organizations for Russian diaspora’s strengthening and development.
The participants in the meeting were offered a buffet supper.
That same day, Metropolitan Anthony and members of the church delegation departed for Moscow.
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