Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk concludes his visit to Georgia

DECR Communication service, 02.10.2026.

On the 2nd of October 2026, during his trip to Georgia, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, accompanied by Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, Archpriest Igor Yakymchuk, Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Archpriest Vladimir Alexandrov, a cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi, and Priest Nikolai Vasin, Secretary to the DECR Chairman, visited in Tbilisi the family home of St Gabriel (Urgebadze), who is widely venerated both in the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches.

In the courtyard of this house, the holy ascetic built a church with his own hands, decorating it with icons made from images of the Saviour, the Mother of God and the saints cut out of newspapers, magazines and books. The church built by the elder was destroyed several times, but Father Gabriel restored it each time.

After visiting this memorial site and praying before the relics of St Gabriel, the DECR Chairman and his companions departed for home.

At Tbilisi Airport, they were seen off by Metropolitan Andrew of Gori and Ateni and Archpriest Kahaber Gogotishvili of the Georgian Orthodox Church; Archpriest Vladimir Alexandrov, a cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tbilisi; and D.A. Olisov, Head of the Interests Section of the Russian Federation at the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation in Georgia.

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Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk concludes his visit to Georgia

Patriarch

Department Chairman

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Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons