PATRIARCHAL CONCELEBRATION AT THE KREMLIN

On 28th August 2015, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, who is in Moscow on the final leg of his pilgrimage to Russia, concelebrated with the Most Holy Patriarch Kirill of Moscow at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Kremlin, on the occasion of the great feast of the Dormition of the Theotookos according to the Old Calendar.

Concelebrating at the gloroious Eucharistic Synaxis were the Metropolitans Athanasios of Cyrene, Ilarion of Volokalamsk, Arsenios of Istras, Archbishop Mark of Egorievsk and the Bishops Meletios of Naucratis, Sergios of Solnetsgorsk and Savvas of Voskresenski.

During the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy His Holiness patriarch Kirill ordained Deacon Dmitry to the Priesthood, and before the dismissal spoke to the large congregation in rich theological terms about the figure of the Most Holy Theotokos and did not fail to express his joy at the presence of the Alexandrian Primate in the Russian capital, and the bonds of love between the two Churches.

His Beatitude then thanked Patriarch Kirill for his hospitality over the many days of his visit, emphasized the unbreakable ties between the two Patriarchates since old times and expressed the support of the Alexandrian Church on the side of patriarch Kirill regarding the Ukrainian issue.

Immediately after the dismissal a festive Meal was hosted at the Patriarchal Palace within the Kremlin and then the two Primates had private successive talks for a long period on all the issues of ecclesiastical affairs, and in the end made important statements about missionary work both in Africa as well as in the far extreme ends of Russia, and the need of the evangelization of the nations.