Department for External Church Relations
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Delegation of Monastics from the Coptic Church visits Holy Sites of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis
DECR Communication service, 07.09.2025
On September 2–3, 2025, representatives of the monastic community of the Coptic Church, currently on a pilgrimage to Russia with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus', visited churches and monasteries of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis.
The visit began at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod, where the guests were welcomed on behalf of Metropolitan Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas by Bishop Innokenty of Sormovo, Vicar of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.
The delegation then proceeded to the Annunciation Monastery for men in Nizhny Novgorod, where they were received by the Abbot, Archimandrite Alexander (Lukin).
On the same day, the delegation visited the Ascension Pechersky Monastery for men, where they were welcomed by the monastery’s Abbot, Hegumen Tikhon (Zatyokin).
In the evening, the guests fr om Egypt arrived at the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent, wh ere they stayed until September 3. The pilgrims visited the convent’s churches and venerated its great relics: the relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, the relics of the holy women of Diveyevo—Alexandra, Martha, and Helena, and the "Tenderness" icon of the Mother of God. The guests attended a moleben to Saint Seraphim and took part in a prayer procession along the Holy Ditch. The Coptic Church delegation was warmly received by the Abbess of the convent, Mother Superior Sergia (Konkova), who shared the history and present-day life of the monastery with them.
At the end of their visit, the delegation also visited the Seraphim Spring in the village of Tsyganovka.
The Coptic Church delegation included: Bishop Stefanos of Beba and El-Fashn, permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Church – Head of Delegation; Bishop Marc of Paris and Northern France; Priest Athanasius Adel, cleric of the Diocese of Beba and El-Fashn; Deacon Rami Rizk, representative of the Coptic Patriarchate; Sisters Maria Ishak and Agafia Shahat, servants of the Diocese of Beba and El-Fashn; Sister Marsilia Ishak, servant of the Diocese of Asyut; Sister Mira Nabil, servant of the Diocese of Asyut; Sisters Julitta Fouad and Theopistia Sayed, nuns of the Monastery of the Great Martyr Damiana in the Dakahlia Governorate; Sisters Aksia Samir and Batula George, servants of the Diocese of Borg El Arab.
While in the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese, the guests were accompanied by: Metropolitan Arseny of Zvenigorod, Administrator of the North-Eastern Vicariate of the Moscow (City) Diocese; Hegumen Sergiy (Kuksov), Abbot of the Ascension David Hermitage; Archpriest Alexander Malafeyev, Head of the Organizational Department of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese; Mother Superior Elisaveta (Pozdnyakova), Abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy; Hieromonk Daoud el-Antony, Representative of the Coptic Church in Russia; A. Milad, Advisor to the Coptic Patriarch; D.E. Arakelyan, staff member of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
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