Patriarch Kirill to visit Alexandrian Patriarchate in Egypt

10/04/2010

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, will on Saturday arrive in Egypt on a three-day visit.

There are 15 local Orthodox Churches in the world, and when the new head of one of them is elected, he traditionally visits the other 14 in line with an “order of honor.”

Kirill, who was crowned as Russia’s new Church leader in February 2009 replacing the late Patriarch Alexy II, visited the Constantinople Patriarchate last summer, and the Alexandrian Patriarchate in Egypt is the next on his list.

The Russian patriarch will meet with Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa, visit Russian churches and present bells cast in Russia to a monastery in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The Constantinople Patriarchate, whose headquarters is in modern-day Turkey, and the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa are part of the bigger Greek Orthodox Church but are considered to be autocephalous churches.

Patriarch Theodoros will meet Patriarch Kirill in the airport and accompany him to Alexandria’s Annunciation Cathedral for a short divine service and talks. On Sunday Kirill will take part in a liturgy in the cathedral, and then head to Cairo.

The churches’ leaders could discuss increasing the number of Russian parishes in Egypt where many Russians come to spend vacation.

MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti)

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