Bishop Irinej meets with Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad , Head of External affairs for the Moscow Patriarchate

On the Great Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 15 February 2008, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Australia and New Zealand attended the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Russian Orthodox Representation in Geneva, celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and His Grace Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, together with clergy from the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Poland and in America, including the Very Rev. Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations for the Orthodox Church in America. Following the Festal Divine Liturgy, a reception was held attended by numerous local faithful, dignitaries and students from the religious and academic communities of Geneva.

Metropolitan Kyrill heads the Office of External Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, and Bishop Hilarion is the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Union in Brussels. In addition to Geneva and Brussels, the Russian Orthodox Church has representations in New York, Jerusalem, Belgrade, and other key religious and political centres throughout the world. The representation in Geneva interfaces with the key faith-based and international headquarters and United Nations offices.