The Russian Orthodox Church has spread to ten more countries over the past ten years.
“Over the past ten years, the number of countries where the Russian Orthodox Church is present has increased by ten,” an analysis prepared by the Moscow Patriarchate for the tenth anniversary of the Local Assembly that elected Patriarch Kirill said.
Today the Church has 19 dioceses outside the CIS, it said.
Whereas in 2009 the Church had 356 outposts outside the CIS, today the figure is over a thousand (977 parishes and 40 monasteries and convents).
In all, the Moscow Patriarchate has 150 million parishioners worldwide (between 60% and 70% of all Orthodox Christians), the attendees of a ceremony in the Kremlin marking the anniversary were told.
(Source: Interfax)