The Moscow Representative of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East receives award of the Orthodox Church in America

8/12/2009

On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, His Beatitude, the Most Blessed Metropolitan JONAH of All America and Canada visited the Church of the Archangel Gabriel – the Moscow Representation of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East where he was met by His Eminence, Archbishop NIPHON of Philipopolsk and official Representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Moscow Patriarchate.

After venerating the holy altar, His Beatitude and His Eminence greeted one another on the amvon. In thanking Archbishop NIPHON for his hospitality and invitation for the visit, His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH also read an official Primatial Gramota awarded to the Archbishop for his loving support of St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church – the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America.

Following the awarding of the gramota of the Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop NIPHON invited Metropolitan JONAH to his official residence where they continued in conversation. Also participating in this meeting were the Moscow Representative of the Orthodox Church in America and the Ambassadors of Lebanon and Syria.

Throughout the course of the meeting, it was repeatedly mentioned that the Churches of Antioch and America are Sisters and share in unity and love towards our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. In speaking of the relationship between the Orthodox Church in America and the Antiochian Archdiocese of North and South America, His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH stated his respect for His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, the head of the Antiochian Archdiocese and his warm feelings toward the hierarchs and clergy of the Archdiocese, many of whom studied together with His Beatitude at St. Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary.

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