The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets in St. Petersburg

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has met for its regular session on 10 October 2009 at the historic building of the Sacred Governing Synod in St Petersburg. The session is chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The permanent members of the Holy Synod are Metropolitans Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine, Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus; Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Vladimir of Kishinev of All Moldova; and Archbishops Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the department for external church relations, and Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia, acting chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate. Summoned for the winter session are Metropolitan Iriney of Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd, Archbishops Simon of Brussels and Belgium, Vadim of Irkutsk and Angarsk, Zosima of Elista and Kalmykia, and Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory.

Before the session, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church welcomed the meeting, noting that it was a second Holy Synod session to be held in the historic building of the Sacred Governing Synod and that St. Petersburg assumed the duties of the Synodal capital.

His Holiness stressed that the session was to deal with many questions involved in particular in reorganization of the supreme church governance. The agenda also includes problems of personnel for dioceses, monasteries and institutions abroad.

The proceedings of the Holy Synod session will be published upon its conclusion.

Source: