Metropolitan Hilarion attends conference on protecting the family

November 13, 2013 – a conference on “Orthodox and Catholics Protecting the Family Together” took place in Rome under the auspices of the Department for the External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, opened the conference, addressing the problem of the globalization and the crisis of the family. Then Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the DECR, spoke on “The family, Christianity, society: Orthodox perspective”.

The speakers from the Russian Orthodox Church included Rev. Mikhail Zheltov, head of the Chair of Church Practice of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies, who presented a paper on “The anthropology of the family in Orthodox liturgical tradition”, and Archpriest Maxim Obukhov, director of the Zhizn educational center, who dealt with the theme “Church Fathers and the family”.

From the Catholic side, papers were presented by psychologist Paolo Ferliga who spoke on “Relations between generations: Parents and children in a globalized world”, and Prof. Antonio Pitta of the Pontifical Lateran University who devoted his address to the theme “The family in the New Testament”.

Present at the meeting was Russian Ambassador to the Holy See A. Avdeyev.

A communiqué was adopted, summing up the work of the forum.

During the conference, Metropolitan Hilarion had a meeting with Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, vice-dean of the College of Cardinals.

Source: Moscow Patriarchate