Bangkok hosts celebration of 25 years of the Russian Orthodox Church’s ministry in the Kingdom of Thailand
DECR Communications Service, 27.11.2024.
On November 26, the commemoration day of St. John Chrysostom, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Sergy of Singapore and Southeast Asia, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, Archbishop Feofan of Korea, and Bishop Pitirim of Jakarta, vicar of the Diocese of Singapore, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Bangkok. The divine service was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Thailand.
Before the service, a reliquary with a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Miracleworker was brought to the church.
The hierarchs were assisted by archpriest Nikolai Lishchenyuk, DECR deputy chairman; archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin), secretary of the Thai Diocese and rector of St. Nicholas cathedral in Bangkok; archpriest Nikolai Katsyuban, rector of the Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tokyo, Japan; archimandrite Pavel (Khokhlov), rector of St. Michael the Archangel church in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; archpriest Igor Filyanovsky, rector of the Holy Trinity church in Melbourne, Australia; hieromonk Seraphim (Vasiliev), rector of the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov on Koh Phangan Island in Thailand; hegumen Varlaam (Dulsky), acting rector of St. Nicholas church in Tehran, Iran; archpriest Sergy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for far abroad countries, Rev. Boris Setiawan, rector of St. Thomas the Apostle church in Jakarta, Indonesia; hieromonk Innokenty (Kolesnikov), rector of the church of the Dormition of the Mother of God at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Beijing, China; Rev. Dimitry Lavrentiev, rector of the church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Vientiane, Laos; Rev.Yevgeny Tsukalo, rector of the church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vung Tau, Vietnam; hieromonk Kirill (Peregudin), a DECR staff member; Rev. Clement Nehamaiya, rector of the Holy Trinity parish in Chandrapur, India; Rev. Nikolai Vasin, secretary to the DECR chairman; Rev. Vladislav Ratnikov, acting rector of the Holy Trinity church in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; clergymen of the Thai diocese, and guests in holy orders.
The service was celebrated in Church Slavonic, Thai and English.
Among those present in the church were H.E. Yevgeny Tomikhin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Thailand; Mr. Gennady A. Ovechko, Director of the Department for Work with Compatriots Abroad of the Russian Foreign Ministry; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Alexander P. Lukashik; Mr. Mikhail V. Drozdov, head of the World Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots; leaders and representatives of the organizations of Russian compatriots in Thailand; representatives of the Royal family and the authorities of Thailand; numerous parishioners of the cathedral, and guests from other communities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand.
After the service, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk greeted the participants of the festive celebration on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'. The response of Metropolitan Sergy of Singapore and Southeast Asia was followed by the awards ceremony.
In consideration of the assistance rendered to the Thai diocese and in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church’s ministry in Thailand, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk presented the following Patriarchal awards: the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 2nd class, to Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin); the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow, 3rd class, to Mr. Aleksei A. Tyutin, the warden of the cathedral; the Orders of St. Euphrosyne, Grand Princess of Moscow, 2nd class, to Mrs. Nalinee Taveesin, Thai trade representative and advisor to the prime minister, and to Priyanantana Rangsit, Momratchawong (junior member of the Royal family).