DECR Chairman Visits Syriac Orthodox Diocese in Erbil

Archbishop Mar Nicodemus Sharaf of Mosul & Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk
Pic : mospat.ru

OCP News Service – 02/10/2025

Erbil – Iraq: Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, paid a fraternal visit to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos in Erbil, at the invitation of Archbishop Mar Nicodemus Sharaf, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk, and Kurdistan.

During their meeting, Archbishop Mar Nicodemus shared insights on the present life and challenges faced by the Syriac Orthodox Church in Iraq. Metropolitan Anthony, in turn, recalled his earlier encounters with His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch , including the Patriarch’s fraternal visit to Russia in November 2015. The hierarchs also reflected on current matters of inter-church cooperation.

Clergy of the Syriac Orthodox Diocese of Mosul participated in the meeting, along with representatives of sister Churches and the DECR. Among them were Chorbishop Samano Odisho, Representative of the Assyrian Church of the East in Russia; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), Secretary of the DECR for Inter-Christian Relations; and Priest Nikolai Vasin, Secretary to the Chairman of the DECR.

Source:

OCP News Service