XI awards ceremony of the International Foundation of Unity of Orthodox People

21/1/2011

On January 21, 2011 at the Hall of Church Cathedral of Christ the Saviour Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia His Holiness Kirill lead the XI annual awards ceremony of the International Public Foundation for Unity of Orthodox Peoples (MFEPN) “For outstanding work in strengthening the unity of Orthodox people.

Foundation Prize annually is awarded to heads of states, governments and parliaments of the Orthodox Church, the largest public figures for their contribution to the consolidation of economic and political ties between states, historically formed in the context of the Eastern Christian tradition, the statement in the life of the Orthodox community’s high standards of Christian morality.

Laureates MFEPN for 2010 were: Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus Chrysostomos II , President, VF Yanukovych, a writer, VG Rasputin, the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Prešov (Slovakia).

The event was attended by Culture Minister AA Avdeev , chairman of the State Duma Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations SA Popov , Special Envoy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, AV Vdovin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic in the Russian Federation Michael Spinellis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus in Russia Petros Kestoras, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova in the Russian Federation Andrey Negutsa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Romania in the Russian Federation Michael Gregory, as well as representatives of the local Orthodox Churches: Metropolitan Zakinfsky Chrysostomos ( Orthodox Church ), a representative of the Patriarch of Alexandria, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirinsky Metropolitan Athanasios, a representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East at the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Archbishop Philippopolis Niphon , representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Moravichsky Anthony , representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Archpriest Alexy said.

The ceremony was also attened by bishops and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church: the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion , the head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate Bishop Sergius of Solnechnogorsk , chairman of the Synodal Department for Church and Society , Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin , deputy chairman of the DECR , Archpriest Nikolai Balashov , DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations Rev. Igor Jakimchuk.

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