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Metropolitan Tikhon concelebrates at Anniversary Liturgy in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral - Moscow: Day 4 (July 24)

July 24, 2013

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, was among the Primates and representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches who concelebrated at the Divine Liturgy with His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, at Christ the Savior Cathedral here on July 24, 2013. The Liturgy opened a three-part commemoration of the 1025th Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’ that will be marked with similar celebrations in Kyiv, Ukraine and Minsk, Belarus.

According to the Press Service of the Moscow Patriarchate, other concelebrating Primates included His Beatitude, Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa; His Beatitude, Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine; His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia; His Holiness, Patriarch Irenej of Serbia; His Holiness, Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria; His Beatitude, Archbishop Chrysostomos II of New Justiniana and All Cyprus; and His Beatitude, Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland. Hierarchs representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Churches of Antioch, Romania, Albania, the Czech Lands and Slovakia led delegations from their respective Churches.

After the Liturgy in the hall below there was a celebratory lunch with greetings from each of the delegations. His Beatitude was the last to bring greetings (representing the youngest autocephalous church). He opened his remarks in French, ended in English and the middle section of the text was read in Russian by Father Leonid Kishkovsky. In between greetings a well-known Cossack choir sang national songs of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Late in the afternoon Metropolitan Tikhon was interviewed for an hour by the editor of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, Sergei Chapnin.