His Eminence Hon Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Targoviste and patriarchal exarch, attended the festivities held in Moscow to mark Patriarch Kirill’s 10th enthronement anniversary, on Jan. 30 – Feb. 2, 2019.
Taking part in the event were delegations of the local Orthodox Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland and the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
Festive Divine Liturgy
The main event was the patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow on February 1, presided over by His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All East.
Slujba a fost prezidată de Preafericitul Părinte Ioan, Patriarhul Antiohiei, împreună cu care au concelebrat: Preafericitul Părinte Kirill, Patriarhul Rusiei, Preafericitul Părinte Irineu, Patriarhul Serbiei, Preafericitul Părinte Rastislav, Mitropolitul Cehiei şi Slovaciei, Preafericitul Părinte Tihon, Mitropolitul Americii și Canadei (OCA), ierarhi reprezentanţi ai Bisericilor Ortodoxe Surori, dar şi ierarhi ruşi, preoţi şi diaconi.
Concelebrants for the Divine Liturgy included HB Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, HB Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, HB Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, HB Metropolitan Tikhon of America and Canada (OCA), representatives of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, other hierarchs, priests and deacons of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Divine Liturgy was attended by state officials, State Duma deputies, Moscow city officials and representatives of state and public organizations in Russia.
Among the worshippers were abbots and abbesses of monasteries, staff members of the synodal departments, representatives of Orthodox youth organizations and numerous believers.
Prayers were offered in Church Slavonic, Arabic and English.
The sermon before communion was delivered by Archbishop Anthony of Vienna and Budapest, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Kirill delivered a speech noting the contribution of the entire Russian Orthodox Church to his 10-year patriarchal stewardship.
The Patriarch of Moscow said that during these years he ‘felt the power of the prayers of the bishops, clergy, monastics and lay people.’
‘I have felt and realized that it is these prayers that have sustained my feeble strength and helped me to carry out my ministry with a complete awareness of my responsibility before God and people for all that happens in the life of the Church and in the spiritual and moral life of our contemporaries.’
The Patriarch expressed special thanks to the Primates of the local Orthodox Churches, to those who attended the event, but also ‘to those who for whatever reason could not come to Moscow.’
‘It is a great honour and joy for me to labour with the renowned First Hierarchs, to strengthen Orthodox unity, to safeguard God’s Church from false teachers and division, to come to the defense of persecuted Christians,’ the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church noted Feb. 1.
Meeting with representatives of local Orthodox Churches
Church distinctions were bestowed to several Russian hierarchs on the occasion of the patriarchal anniversary.
On January 31, His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill met with the members of the delegations of the local Orthodox Churches who attended the event in the capital of the Russian Federation.
The meeting took place at Danilov Monastery, during which the members of the delegations read out greetings to Patriarch Kirill on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his enthronement.
In his speech, Patriarch Kirill mentioned the developments in ecclesiastical life in Ukraine.
The Russian Patriarch spoke about the celebrations as ‘an important time of stewardship’ that forces him ‘to continue the pastoral work, in the difficult circumstances of the challenges posed by contemporary society, which becomes more and more secularized.’
The same day, the Patriarch of Moscow and the heads of the delegations met with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, at State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow
His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill was enthroned as Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church during a special ceremony held at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow on February 1, 2009.
In 2017, His Beatitude visited Romania to take part in the festivities dedicated to St Demetrius the New, Protector of Bucharest.
This was the first visit of a Russian Patriarch to Romania after 1989, and the first time His Beatitude Patr. Kirill visited our country after his enthronement in 2009.
Published by Aurelian Iftimiu
Photography courtesy of the Patriarchate of Moscow