Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA] of the Russian Federation visited the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America on Thursday, May 19, 2016 in order to see the Church’s Archives and to conduct discussions on possible cooperation in terms of studying and preserving Russia’s historical legacy in the United States.
On behalf of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, who was unable to be present, the guests were welcomed by Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs and Inter-Church Relations, and Mr. Alexis Liberovsky, OCA Archivist and Director of the Office of History and Archives.
The visiting officials were Mr. Yury V. Matveev, Acting Head of Section within the Department of North America of the MFA; Ms. Elena V. Agalakova, Third secretary of the Department of North America of the MFA; and Ms. Veronika Nevzorova, Consul for Cultural Affairs at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York.
During a tour of the Chancery and the OCA Archives conducted for the guests by Mr. Liberovsky, historical items throughout the building and key archival documents, particularly pertaining to the Russian colonial period in Alaska were highlighted. The guests came away impressed by the wide range of priceless historical material preserved by the Orthodox Church in America.
The visit of the Russian officials was a follow-up to their visit earlier this month to Saint Catherine OCA Representation Church in Moscow, where they were welcomed by Archimandrite Alexander [Pihach], OCA Representative. In early April, Father Alexander had attended a meeting of experts at MFA which explored possible efforts to study and preserve the Russian historical heritage in America, including Orthodox missionary efforts in Alaska, as a means of promoting bilateral cultural ties and contacts among the people of the US and Russia.
During the meeting of the guests with Fr. Kishkovsky and Mr. Liberovsky after their tour of the chancery and OCA Archives, and a luncheon that followed, a wide range of issues and resources of mutual interest were discussed and possible cooperation was envisioned, particularly in terms of preserving and making more widely accessible archival documents on the Church in America that pertains to Russia’s historical legacy. Mr. Nicholas Sluchevsky, an American of Russian ancestry who is President of The Stolypin Center and a founder of the Russian-American Archive Project, also participated in the meeting.
