On Good Friday, April 18, 2025, in the Great Throne Room of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III and Russian pilgrims as part of the delegation of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation held a joint prayer for peace.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Foundation's delegation was accompanied by Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism. Thanks to the Russian Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called, which is responsible for bringing the Holy Fire to Russia, this traditional prayer is being performed in Jerusalem for the 23rd time this year. The joint prayer for peace was also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Israel, Alexander Viktorov, and Embassy staff.
Before the prayer began, V.I. Yakunin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, addressed His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem with words of gratitude for the invariably warm welcome. He emphasized that the Foundation highly appreciates the mission of the Jerusalem Patriarchate as the mother of all Orthodox Churches, aimed at maintaining peace and dialogue between representatives of different traditions, cultures and faiths, the website of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem reports.
Patriarch Theophilus warmly thanked the representatives of the Andrew the First—Called Foundation for their commitment to the tradition of making pilgrimages to Jerusalem on these holy days, stressing that the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, the Mother Church and the Martyr Church, called to bear witness to the crucified and risen Savior in the midst of an aggressive world, teaches each of us individually and our Orthodox peoples in particular. We continue to experience troubled times, trusting in the inexhaustible power of Christ's Resurrection.
Russian Russian Orthodox Church — Vicar of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism, and clergy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, on behalf of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus and the clergy of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Finally, on behalf of the Andrew the First-Called Foundation, Patriarch Theophilus was presented with icons of the Savior and St. Nicholas of Myra. The Primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church presented Easter gifts to each participant of the prayer and gave his Pontifical blessing.