On Wednesday, December 6, 2017, during their visit to Russia in conjunction with celebrations marking the 100th Anniversary of the Election and Enthronement of Saint Tikhon as Patriarch of Moscow and the Restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon and the members of the Orthodox Church in America’s delegation were received by His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill at the Patriarchal Residence in the Danilov Monastery.
After celebrating a Service of Thanksgiving in the Patriarchal Chapel, Patriarch Kirill extended a warm welcome to Metropolitan Tikhon and the OCA delegation, which included His Grace, Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa; Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk, Rector of Saint Tikhon of Moscow Church, Anchorage, AK; Melanie Ringa OCA Treasurer; Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak; and Subdeacon Roman Ostash. Also present were His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chair of the Patriarchate’s Department of External Church Relations [DECR]; His Grace, Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, DECR Deputy Chairman; Archpriest Igor Jakimchuk, DECR Secretary for Inter-Orthodox Relations; and DECR staff member D. I. Petrovsky.
During the meeting that followed the Service of Thanksgiving, Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Tikhon and the respective delegations met to discuss a wide variety of matters, including the strengthening of ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.
See related story. A video of Metropolitan Tikhon’s greetings is available online.
