On Saturday, December 5, 2009, His Beatitude, the Most Blessed JONAH, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada arrived in Moscow, Russia to begin his short pastoral visit to his Representation at St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church for its 15th Anniversary celebrations.
Greeting His Beatitude upon arrival in Moscow were: His Eminence, Archbishop HILARION of Volokolamsk and Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department of External Church Relations (DECR MP); His Grace, Bishop ALEKSANDR of Dmitrov and Vicar to the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Archimandrite Zacchaeus, Representative of the Orthodox Church in America to the Moscow Patriarchate; Archpriest Nicholas Balashov, Deputy Chairman of the DECR MP; Priest Igor Yakimschuk, the Acting Secretary for Inter-Church Relations, and other clergy and staff of the DECR MP.
After a very interesting conversation on a wide range of topics of mutual interest for the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America with the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan JONAH and Archimandrite Zacchaeus departed to Moscow’s St. Daniel’s Monastery Hotel where they were met by the clergy and chancery staff of St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church who eagerly received His Beatitude’s Primatial blessing.
Accompanying His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH on his pastoral visit to St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church is Novice Gregory (Stevens), the Primate’s personal aide and subdeacon.
