Visitations to Moscow's External Church Relations dept.

(mospat.ru) - Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, new Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, was received by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk on May 11, 2011, at the Department for External Church Relations. Present at the meeting were also Hegumen Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman, Mgr Visvaldas Kulbokas, first secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature to Russia, Rev. Dimitry Sizonenko, DECR acting secretary for inter-Christian relations, and Deacon Alexy Dikarev of the DECR secretariat for inter-Christian relations.

Metropolitan Hilarion congratulated Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic on taking the office of Apostolic Nuncio, wished him success in his work and expressed hope for further development of constructive cooperation between the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations and the Apostolic Nunciature to the Russian Federation. His Eminence noted with satisfaction that Orthodox-Catholic relations considerably improved in recent years. In this connection, he underscored the role of the Joint Working Group for considering problems in relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church as an effective instrument for discussing and searching for a settlement of various practical problems in relations between the two Churches.

They also discussed prospects for Orthodox-Catholic cooperation in bearing common witness to Christian values in the modern society and in protecting the rights of Christians who are subjected to persecution in various parts of the world.

In conclusion of the meeting, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic thanked Metropolitan Hilarion for the warm welcome and assured him of his desire to promote further development of cooperation and mutual understanding between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

And also...

(mospat.ru) - On May 11, 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, received Bishop Mar Isaac Joseph of Northern Iraq and Russia, Assyrian Church of the East, at his request.

Bishop Mar Isaac Joseph thanked Metropolitan Hilarion for the audience and talk and told him about the hardships experienced by Christian Churches in Iraq today, about the blasting of churches and attacks on Christians. He asked the Supreme Authorities of the Russian Orthodox Church to raise their voice in defence of the suffering Christian population in Iraq and a number of other countries so that the world community could pay attention to these facts and put an end to the continued violence committed on religious grounds.

During their talk, Metropolitan Hilarion assured Bishop Mar Isaac Joseph of the support of the Russian Orthodox Church and said that the Moscow Patriarchate considered it extremely important that the world community and international organizations should give special attention protecting the life, dignity and religious freedom of Christians in a number of countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

In conclusion, Bishop Mar Isaac Joseph asked Metropolitan Hilarion to convey to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russian cordial greetings and best wishes from the Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East, Catholicos Mar Dingha IV.

Present at the meeting were also Rev. Dimitry Sizonenko, DECR acting secretary for inter-Christian relations, Rev. Alexander Vasyutin of the secretariat, and Rev. Samano Odisho, rector of the Assyrian church of St. Mary in Moscow.