With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Isidore of Smolensk and Dorogobuzhsky arrived in Armenia to participate in the solemn events dedicated to the re-consecration of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the consecration of the Holy World on September 27-29, 2024.
The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church met with Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II at the Patriarchal Residence in Echmiadzin.
The Armenian Apostolic Church was also represented by the head of the New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese, Archbishop Yezras Nersisyan; Director of the Department of Inter-Church Relations, Archimandrite Garegin Hambartsumyan and head of the Personal Secretariat of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Archpriest Vahram Melikyan.
On the part of the Russian Orthodox Church, the meeting was also attended by Priest Lev Garin, Assistant to the Governor of the Smolensk Diocese, and D.E. Arakelyan, an employee of the DECR.
Metropolitan Isidore thanked His Holiness for the opportunity to meet and conveyed greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Vladyka spoke about the fraternal relations that have developed between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, and shared information about cooperation with the New Nakhichevan and Russian dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The head of the Moscow Patriarchate delegation also thanked His Holiness Catholicos Garegin II for his support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is currently being persecuted by the Ukrainian authorities.
The Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church asked to convey greetings to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and noted the importance of maintaining relations between our Churches and peoples united by a common history and Christian tradition. Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II spoke about his acquaintance with Russian Orthodoxy when he was a student of the Moscow Theological Academy in 1979-1980 and about the fraternal relations that connected him with the Primates of the Moscow Patriarchate throughout his Patriarchate since 1999.
The sides also discussed the possibilities of developing bilateral relations at the present stage.
The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church met with Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
30.09.2024, 07:00