RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


 

Ukrainian and Russian politicians attend Easter Vigil services

ON EASTER NIGHT PRESIDENT WORSHIPS WITH BELIEVERS OF VARIOUS CHURCHES

UNIAN, 12 April 2015

 

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his family—wife, Marina, and children Evgenia, Alexandra, and Mikhail—participated on Easter night in holiday worship services in several churches of Kiev.

 

In the St. Vladimir's cathedral church, the presidential family, along with the patriarch of Kiev and all-Rus-Ukraine, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate, Filaret, and the rector of the church, Archpriest Boris, and believers, made a procession of the cross.

 

Then the president visited the cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. There the festive Easter liturgy was conducted by the UGKTs Major Archbishop Sviatoslav.

 

Then the head of state joined in holiday worship with parishioners of the Holy Dormition Kiev caves lavra. In the refectory church the service was directed by the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufrey.

 

In all of the sacred places, Petro Poroshenko greeted the believers on the feast of Pascha and Christ's Resurrection. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 April 2015)


PUTIN, MEDVEDEV, AND SOBIANIN ATTEND EASTER SERVICE IN CHURCH OF CHRIST THE SAVIOR

Interfax-Religiia, 12 April 2015

 

Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill performed the Paschal night worship service in the church of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

 

Before the holiday service, a delegation of the foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called, led by the chairman of the trustees' council of the foundation, RZhD president Vladimir Yakunin, brought into the church the blessed flame that flares up every year on the eve of Orthodox Pascha in the Jerusalem church of the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord.

 

During the worship service, the Easter gospel was read in 21 languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Slavonic, Arabic, Sanskrit, Moldavian, Gagauz, Kazakh, Latvian, Estonia, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.

 

President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his wife, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin, and other public and political figures came for the Paschal service in the church of Christ the Savior.

 

By tradition, after midnight the patriarch and governmental leaders exchanged Easter gifts.

 

V. Putin regularly attends churches during principal church holidays. While on Pascha he often is in Moscow in the church of Christ the Savior, at Christmas, as a rule, he celebrates outside the boundaries of the capital.

 

Holiday services were conducted this night in tens of thousands of churches of the Moscow patriarchate throughout the world. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 April 2015)


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