Metropolitan Anthony of DECR Visited Patriarch John X of Antioch

OCP News Service – 22/01/2023

Damascus – Syria: Patriarch John X of Antioch received Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations in Damascus on January 21, 2023. The visit and meeting were held during the working visit of Metropolitan Anthony with the Russian delegation.

The working visit started on January 20, 2023, with a visit to Lebanon. Later the delegation traveled to Syria to meet the primate Patriarch John X.

Metropolitan Ephraim of Aleppo and Alexandretta, Bishop of Darai Moses, Bishop of Sergiopol John, Bishop of Philadelphia Arseniy, Bishop of Larisa Moses, and Bishop of Seleucia Roman represented Antioachan church at the meeting.  Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Advisor to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev), Representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ to the Patriarch of Antioch Alexander Ershov where also part of the delegation.

At the meeting, His Beatitude Patriarch John expressed his deep gratitude to the Russian Orthodox Church for its help in restoring churches and other church facilities damaged as a result of hostilities in Syria. Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk conveyed to the Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church the fraternal greetings and best wishes from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’. The DECR Chairman thanked His Beatitude Patriarch John for his unfailing prayerful support of the Russian Church. In the course of further conversation, the prospects for further development of cooperation between the two Churches were discussed.

Later, Patriarch and Metropolitan Antony visited the compound of the Russian Orthodox Church in Damascus and its Center for Children’s Rehabilitation and Prosthetics.

Source:
OCP News Service