Moscow, May 27, 2019

Photo: patriarchia.ru

Representatives of 11 of the world’s 15 Orthodox Churches gathered in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral on May 24, the feast of Sts. Kirill and Methodius, the teachers of the Slavs, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. The day also marked the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s name’s day.

Among the concelebrants were His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of New York and All North America, Archpriest Thomas Zain, and Fr. Nicholas Belcher of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, reports the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Met. Joseph arrived in Russia, in St. Petersburg, on May 15, leading a two-week pilgrimage with a delegation including clergy and laity. Before arriving in Moscow, the pilgrimage group also visited the holy sites in Novgorod.

Met. Joseph is on the right. Photo: patriarchia.ru

Following the Divine Liturgy, the delegation had the opportunity to meet with His Holiness in the patriarchal chambers in Christ the Savior Cathedral. His Eminence Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, the representative of the Antiochian Patriarchate to the Patriarchate of Moscow, also participated in the meeting, as did His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the Chairman of the Russian Church’s Department for External Church Relations, and Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, the Deputy Chairman.

Pat. Kirill warmly welcomed the guests, stressing the high level of bilateral relations between the Antiochian and Russian Churches which play an important role in today’s troubled world, and especially expressing his deep gratitude for His Beatitude Patriarch John’s support of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church: “We appreciate the position of His Beatitude John and your episcopate, and we believe that our close cooperation within the framework of pan-Orthodox relations has a beneficial effect on all Orthodox Churches.”

He added that the fact that no Orthodox Churches have accepted and recognized the lawless invasion of the Patriarchate of Constantinople into the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “testifies to the high responsibility of the primates and episcopates of the Orthodox Churches.”

Pat. Kirill also noted that those who irresponsibly try to paint current events as a rivalry between the Churches of Moscow and Constantinople are deeply mistaken. “There is no rivalry. We respect the diptychs, we respect history. But the diptychs and history do not guarantee infallibility, and the first in the diptychs can be wrong. In history, this has happened more than once, it is enough to recall the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius,” Patriarch Kirill stated.

However, while individuals can make mistakes, the Church is led by the Holy Spirit and never mistaken, the Russian primate stressed. He also praised and thanked the Antiochian Church, which “often at a critical moment, taking the right position, has contributed to the preservation of the unity of Orthodoxy.”

The Antiochian delegation with Pat. Kirill. Photo: patriarchia.ru

For his part, Met. Joseph thanked Pat. Kirill for the warm reception and noted that the Church of Antioch loves and deeply reveres Russians as a “holy people.” He also expressed his appreciation for the Moscow Patriarchate’s firm position in serving the goal of Orthodox unity, and common views on recent Orthodox events, including 2016’s council of Crete, were confirmed.

The delegation also expressed its deep appreciation to the Russian Church and state for their assistance in the fight against terrorism in Syria. Moreover, Met. Joseph expressed full support for the position of the Russian Church on the Ukrainian issue, noting in particular Pat. Kirill’s visit to the Patriarchate of Constantinople in August last year.

However, the warnings expressed by Pat. Kirill to Patriarch Bartholomew “were not heard,” Met. Joseph lamented, noting that Constantinople’s actions have caused deep divisions in the Orthodox world, manifested in the life of many Local Churches.

Met. Joseph also noted that next year marks the 125th anniversary of the arrival of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in America. He had previously served as the rector of the Antiochian representation church in Moscow and was consecrated as a bishop by St. Tikhon, the future Patriarch of Russia, in 1904. The Antiochian hierarch invited Pat. Kirill to visit the Antiochian Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Brooklyn, which had been consecrated by St. Tikhon, and presented His Holiness with an icon of Sts. Tikhon and Raphael, with particles of their holy relics.

The Antiochian delegation’s pilgrimage continued in Moscow until Sunday, when they returned to America.

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