With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, a delegation of the Malankara Church, which arrived in Russia from India, visited the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy on March 9, 2025.
The delegation included Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Demetrios of Delhi, Chairman of the Malankara Church's Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Geevargis Mar Julios of Kunnamkulam, and Priest Ashwin Fernandis, Executive Director of the Malankara DECR.
In the morning, representatives of the Malankara Church attended the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at the Pokrovsky Academic Church.
At the end of the service, Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov welcomed the guests, Vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, and Co-chairman of the Working Group on Coordinating Bilateral Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church. "The history of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church began in the second half of the 20th century," said Bishop Kirill. — In 1976, Patriarch-Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan of Malankara Basil Mar Thomas Matthew I visited Russia. And then, in 1977, His Holiness Patriarch Pimen paid a return visit to Indian soil. The Primate of our Church was very warmly received by the Malankara Church, and we always remember this."
New prospects for the development of bilateral relations are currently opening up, Bishop Kirill said. "I would like to note that our traditions have a lot in common, but at the same time, due to historical and cultural peculiarities, the Russian Church (like any other Local Orthodox Church) and the Malankara Church are completely distinctive. This does not prevent us from learning about each other, being interested in history and tradition. In addition, they study our singing tradition and icon painting skills with great interest. One of the priests of the Malankara Church, Father Anup, graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, the Faculty of church singing, more than a year ago," the hierarch mentioned.
Vladyka Kirill also highlighted the existing contacts within the framework of social and educational projects and expressed hope for further development and strengthening of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church on the basis of truth. "Like Nathanael, whom we have heard about in the Gospel narrative today, our brothers from India have no guile, but a pure and good desire to be closer to the truth, to be with us and united in Christ. We believe that through common prayers, God willing, this will happen," said the bishop.
Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Demetrios of Delhi addressed His Eminence the Rector and the academic community in response. The guest conveyed greetings from the Primate of the Malankara Church, His Holiness Catholicos Basil Mar Thomas Matthew III, and thanked His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, as well as Bishop Kirill, Rector of the Academy, for the warm and cordial welcome. He expressed his joy at the opportunity to be present in this church during the celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, in particular, noting:
"As many of you know, yesterday we met with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia; and you cannot imagine how much work His Holiness has put into making our Churches, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church of India, closer not only theoretically, but also in practice.
Bishop Kirill mentioned the theological dialogue that took place between the theologians of the Russian Church and the Malankara Church in the 20th century. These theologians from both sides have come to the conclusion that there are no theological differences between our Churches. Despite some terminological differences, we are adherents of the Apostolic Tradition. As part of our Working Group on the Coordination of Bilateral Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church, a theological staff is already being formed, which will be tasked with continuing these theological negotiations.
As I attended the divine service today and contemplated the beauty of the Pokrovsky Academic Church, I was filled with hope that maybe someday, as part of our dialogue, our believers will learn how to decorate churches in the same beautiful way. It is a great pleasure for us to realize that the current Primate of our Church, as well as one of the leading regents of ancient Syrian singing, once studied in your Church, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was rector at that time.
It was a great joy for our Church and for our faithful to receive the united choir of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy in Kerala, a Christian state of India, not so long ago. Our believers were able to hear the spiritual church hymns that are performed in your Church. I really hope that through practical things like iconography, church chants, and sharing experiences in other areas of church life, we will be able to be even more together and realize our commonality.
And, of course, it's not just our Churches that are currently working together. As you know, our countries, Russia and India, are currently supporting each other by cooperating in various fields. And in these difficult times, when Russia is facing the difficulties of a multipolar world, our country and our Church especially support Russia. The Primate of our Church supports with particular zeal the position of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia on many issues, especially during this difficult period. I hope that the Lord will have mercy on us and bless our attempts to bring our Churches closer together.; that through our interaction, through our friendship, through our visible unity and love, we can show this world together that we are one in Christ and that we love the Lord."
After the Liturgy, the guests visited the Trinity Lavra Cathedral, where they venerated the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the image of the Holy Trinity painted by St. Andrei Rublev. They also paid tribute to the memory of His Holiness Patriarchs Alexy I and Pimen, who visited the Indian land.
Then a tour of the monastery and the theological academy was organized for the delegation. The guests visited the Dormition and Refectory churches of the monastery, the sacristy of the Lavra, climbed the bell tower and visited the icon painting workshops of the Moscow Theological Academy.
A meeting of the guests with Bishop Kirill took place in the office of the Rector of the Moscow Orthodox Church, during which the parties discussed a draft for future theological consultations within the framework of the work of the working group on the coordination of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church. At the end of the meeting, the parties presented each other with memorable gifts.
A delegation of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church arrived in Russia from India on March 7 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to participate in the celebrations on the occasion of the day of the finding of the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow. In recent years, the veneration of St. Matrona by Indian Christians has been growing, and such visits have already become traditional.
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Russians Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church established a working group on the coordination of bilateral relations by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on October 29, 2019.
The group is co-chaired by Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy.