Department for External Church Relations
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DECR deputy chairman meets with Syrian Chargé d'Affaires Ad Interim to Russia
DECR Communication Service, 12/07/2025
On 11th July 2025, at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR deputy chairman, met with Mr Abderazzak Ismail, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Syrian Arab Republic to Russia.
Archimandrite Philaret greeted the Syrian diplomat on behalf of the DECR chairman, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk.
During the meeting, Mr Abderazzak Ismail talked in detail about the current situation in Syria, mentioning, in particular, the terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church in Damascus that had taken place on 22nd June 2025, killing and injuring many believers of the Orthodox Church of Antioch. As the diplomat said, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized in its post-attack statement that it was “not just an act of aggression against representatives of a certain confession, but an assault on the Syrian identity as a whole.”
The Syrian diplomat also expressed willingness to maintain and develop relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.
The DECR chairman pointed out that the Russian Orthodox Church had traditionally good relations with the Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Syriac Orthodox Church, and expressed his hope that the situation in Syria would be developing in a positive way.
Taking part in the meeting were also Mr Kinan Saker, Second Secretary of the Syrian Embassy in Russia, and Hieromonk Kirill (Peregudin) of the DECR Secretariat for Far Abroad Countries.
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