The Irkutsk Diocese was visited by seminarians from St. Herman's Theological Seminary (Alaska). 
In the fall of 2025, Metropolitan Maximilian of Irkutsk and Angara and Archpriest Vyacheslav Pushkarev visited America: at events related to the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Fort Ross Fortress in California. During the visit, Vladyka and Father Vyacheslav also visited Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, where they visited the Orthodox Theological Seminary named after St. Peter the Great on Kodiak Island.Herman of Alaska, where future priests from the Yupik nation study. His visit to the seminary made a great impression on Vladyka. 
Bishop Alexy of Sitka and Alaska suggested sending several Kodiak seminarians to the Irkutsk diocese so that they could get acquainted with our life and see how worship, prayer, social and educational activities, and communication with people are organized. 
On July 23, 2026, a priest and four seminarians from St. Herman's Theological Seminary in Kodiak arrived in Irkutsk. Immediately upon arrival, the guests visited the Monastery of the Sign, where they prayed to St. Innocent, the First Bishop of Irkutsk, and venerated his relics. Today, the day of seminarians began with a prayer at the Divine Liturgy in the St. Michael the Archangel Church in Irkutsk, after which, as part of a city tour, they visited the Epiphany Cathedral and other churches. 
The guests from Alaska have a month of traveling ahead of them through the parishes of the Irkutsk and Fraternal dioceses. Of course, the seminarians will visit Lake Baikal and attend the Orthodox Youth international festival "Brothers", which will be held from July 25 to August 1 at Cape Kadilny.