Metropolitan Hilarion in Metropolitanate Zagreb-Ljubljana
On 27 August 2013, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of Metropolitan Ioann of Zagreb and Ljubljana, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, arrived in Croatia for a two-day visit.
Accompanying Metropolitan Hilarion are Bishop Antonije of Moravicí, representative of the Patriarch of Serbia to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; hieromonk Ioann (Kopeikin), assistant to the rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute for Post-Graduate and Doctoral Studies; and DECR staff members, Mr. Andrey Khoshev and Mr. Alexander Yershov.
At the Zagreb airport, the DECR chairman was met by Metropolitan Ioann of Zagreb and Ljubljana and clerics of the Zagreb and Ljubljana diocese, and by Mr. Nikolai Mukhin, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, the author of the pictorial decoration of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Zagreb and of the Lepavina Monastery.
From the airport, Metropolitan Hilarion went to the residence of the President of Croatia where he met with H.E. Mr. Ivo Josipović, the President of the Republic of Croatia.
Mr. Josipović warmly greeted the high guest and expressed his joy over Metropolitan Hilarion’s visit to Zagreb. The participants in the meeting noted the important role of the Orthodoxy in the history of Croatia and the outstanding contribution that the Serbian people made to the culture of the country.
The President of Croatia told about the Government’s religious policy and the work it has been carrying out to create favourable conditions for the return of the Serbian population which left the country during the armed conflict in 1991-1995.
Present at the meeting were Metropolitan Ioann of Zagreb and Ljubljana; Bishop Antonije of Moravici; H.E. Mr. Robert Markaryan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Croatia; Mr. Dmitry Malyshev, counselor to the chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Russian Grids” JSC; Mr. Andrey Khoshev, a staff member of the DECR secretariat for inter-Orthodox relations; Ms. Arnica Marinović, counselor to the President of Croatia on science, higher education and religious associations; and Ms. K. Lahorski, counselor to the President on foreign affairs.
On 28 August 2013, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, arrived in the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana.
The DECR chairman, accompanied by H.E. Mr. Doku Zavgayev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Slovenia, and by clerics of the diocese of Zagreb and Ljubljana, visited the Church of Ss Cyril and Methodius which was constructed in 1940 and was decorated with frescoes and icons inspired by the best works of the Serbian icon-painters.
Mr. Zavgayev told Metropolitan Hilarion that the Church of Ss Cyril and Methodius had been restored in 2011 by Russian entrepreneur Mr. M. Perevalov with the assistance of the Russia’s Embassy in Slovenia.
Then the DECR chairman visited the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Slovenia. Mr. Zavgayev told the high guest about the activities of the Russian Embassy aimed at developing the relations between Russia and Slovenia in preserving historical heritage and in the sphere of culture.
Mr. Doku Zavgayev appreciated the Russian Orthodox Church’s position on the preservation of traditional moral values in modern Russian society and told the guest about his many years’ experience of fruitful cooperation with the Church. The participants in the meeting exchanged their opinions on the issue of broadening the Orthodox Church’s presence in Slovenia.
Present at the meeting were Ms. G. Zamyatina, counselor of the Russian Embassy; Mr. Andrey Khoshev, staff member of the DECR secretariat for inter-Orthodox relations; and Mr. Alexander Yershov, assistant to the DECR chairman.
Source: mospat.ru
