Orthodox Churches

Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk leads celebrations in Fort Ross – the first Russian settlement in California

On 28 July 2012, Fort Ross celebrated Living History Day dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the first Russian settlement in California.

Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA, and Bishop Nikolai of Salavat and Kumertau, head of the group of pilgrims from Bashkiria, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Trinity chapel in Fort Ross.

Russian Orthodox young pilgrims’ group attend the 19th Orthodox Youth Congress in Montenegro

A young pilgrims group from the Russian Orthodox Church has been on a visit to Montenegro since July 19, 2012. It consists of 22 young people led by E. Poley and P. Romanova of the Moscow Patriarchate Synodal Youth Department for Youth.

On July 23, 2012, they met with deputies of Montenegro’s Parliament. They visited Orthodox holy places including the Cetinje and Ostrog Monasteries. On July 26, they attended the opening of the 19th Orthodox Youth Congress held in the Monastery of St. Michael on Prevlaka Peninsula near Tivat.

Patriarch Kirill honours memory of Great Patriotic War soldiers and victims of the 1930s mass starvation

On July 28, 2012, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited the Memorial of Eternal Glory at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kiev and the memorial to the victims of the 1930s mass starvation.

Patriarch Kirill meets with Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich

In the evening of July 28, 2012, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich had a talk at the presidential residence in the Crimea.

Mr. Yanukovich noted with satisfaction that the large-scale celebrations held by Local Orthodox Churches to mark the Day of the Baptism of Russia and the commemoration day of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles have already become a good tradition. The annual celebrations point to the considerable role that the Orthodox Church plays in the life of society and makes a considerable contribution to the consolidation of spiritual and moral values, he said.

Patriarch Kirill celebrates the memory of St. Vladimir at Kiev Monastery of the Caves

On July 28, 2012, the commemoration day of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles and the Day of the Baptism of Russia, a national holiday in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Kiev-Caves Laura of the Holy Dormition.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia begins his primatial visit to Ukraine

The official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church accompanying His Holiness includes Metropolitan Varsonofiy of Saransk and Mordovia, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan  Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR); Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate; archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-State Relations; Mr. Vladimir Legoida, chairman of the Synodal Information Department; archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR deputy chairman; archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations; protodeacon Vladimir Nazarkin, assistant to the DECR chairman; Mr. Mikhail Kuksov, acting head of the Patriarch’s personal secretariat.