On Dec 8-9, 2017, The Commission for Bilateral Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church held its first session in Cherepovets in Russia.
Our Syriac Orthodox Church was represented by: Very Rev. Raban Jack Yakoub, Director of the Patriarchal Youth Department; Very Rev. Raban Roger-Youssef Akhrass, Director of the Department of Syriac Studies; Deacon Imad Syryany, Staff member of the Patriarchal Secretariat; Mr. Shadi Sarweh, Executive Director of St. Ephrem Patriarchal Development Committee (EPDC).
The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by: His Grace Bishop Flavian of Cherepovets and Belozersk; Very Rev. Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), Representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East; Mr. Sergey Alferov, Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate (DECR) Staff member; Mr. Evgeny Bakhtin, DECR Staff member.
The Commission was established following the will expressed by Their Holinesses: our Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, and Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, during their historical meeting in Moscow on November 10, 2015.
The Commission discussed collaboration between the two Churches in the following fields: Social service (Diakonia) and humanitarian cooperation, Contacts in the academic sphere, Monastic life, Interaction in media, public and cultural spheres.
The Commission had a very meaningful and fruitful discussion, during which a remarkable mutual understanding was reached for each of the above mentioned positions.
Apart from the meetings, members of the Commission visited various museums in Moscow and Cherepovets, and participated in the festive events held in commemoration of Sts. Athanasius and Theodosius – patron Saints of Cherepovets, which included a Holy Qurobo and a cultural musical concert.
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