Patriarch Kirill of Russia Received President of Cuba

OCP News Service – 23/11/2022

Moscow – Russia: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus received the President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel on 22 November 2022 at the Patriarchal residence of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. 

From the side of the Russian Orthodox Church, the meeting was also attended by: Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Acting Deputy Chairman of the DECR, and Rev. Andrei Titushkin, member of the DECR Secretariat for Far Abroad Affairs.

The delegation accompanying Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez includes Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cuba to Russia Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña, Director General for General Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Emilio Losada Garcia, and the wife of the President of the Republic of Cuba Lis Cuesta.

Addressing the distinguished guest with a cordial greeting, His Holiness noted: “I am glad that the meaningful and emotionally very positive contact that was established with the leadership of your country, starting from our first meeting with the late Comandante Fidel Castro, continues today. We can say that a good tradition of relations between the Russian Church and the Island of Freedom has been established.”

The Cuban President also conveyed warm fraternal greetings and best wishes from General Raul Castro Ruz, with whom His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly communicated. “Your words sounded love and sympathy for Fidel Castro, you mentioned the significance of his personality,” continued Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez. “For us, Fidel is a person and mindset that we turn to every day, especially in the difficult times we are going through.” The head of state highly appreciated the political dialogue between Russia and Cuba, stressing that this dialogue “is becoming an important pillar and an example of how we should build relations in other aspects as well.”

Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez noted that the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church is always welcome in Cuba again. In continuation of the conversation, the parties discussed the topics raised, as well as a number of other issues of mutual interest.

Source: DECR

OCP News Service