NEW AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA MEETS PATRIARCH KIRILL
Portal-credo.ru, 24 November 2014
John Tefft, the ambassador of the USA to Russia, on 21 November at a meeting with Patriarch Kirill congratulated him on his birthday and presented "a small souvenir from America," RIA Novosti reports.
On 19 November, Tefft presented his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin. On 21 November the primate of RPTsMP received Tefft in his residence in the St. Daniel's monastery.
"It is a great honor that we have the opportunity to meet you," the American ambassador said, arriving for the meeting along with his wife, and, on his part, he invited the patriarch to a reception on 3 December in the American embassy in Moscow.
Speaking with the ambassador, Patriarch Kirill noted that Russia is "linked with the USA by many bonds, including historical ones, and he recalled that Alaska had previously been a part of the Russian empire.
"Speaking of history, I would like especially to emphasize the importance of the Orthodox factor. The first Orthodox believers appeared in the west of the United States, in Alaska, back at a time when Alaska was part of the Russian empire, and this was a mission of Valaam monks. . . . At the time the Russian Orthodox mission stretched from Lake Ladoga to the far-off Kurile islands and the shores of Alaska, and from that time the development of Orthodox life in the United States began," the primate of RPTsMP noted.
He also emphasized that the Russian church was directly involved in pastoral work on the American continent, and "this put it into direct contact with protestant churches of the United States."
"I would like to say that I visited an Orthodox church in Alaska. . . . Although we are Catholics, I worshipped there, in the Orthodox church. . . . I would like to congratulate you on your birthday. I know that your birthday was yesterday," the American ambassador said.
After these words he presented to the patriarch, who was 68 years old on 20 November, "a small souvenir from America." "This is a genuine part of America that we brought especially to you," the ambassador noted, without clarifying just what he had brought in a small, red gift package. "A good souvenir," the head of RPTsMP noted as he looked inside. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2014)
PATRIARCH KIRILL CALLS FOR BREAKING ICE IN RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND USA
Interfax-Religiia, 21 November 2014
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill called for working on improving Russian-American relations.
"We are now experiencing not the best period in relations between Russia and the United States, but it is also not the worst, if one compares history. I think that it is necessary to work, including religious leaders too, so that the two states will develop their relations in order to treat one another with mutual respect and trust," the patriarch said at a meeting with the US ambassador to Russia, John Tefft, and his wife on Friday in Moscow.
He also urged Americans to participate jointly "in that great work that a multitude of crises that have seized modern civilization requires of us."
The primate called the USA a great country with which Russia is tied by many bonds, including historical ones. He recalled that the first Orthodox believers appeared in the west of the USA, in Alaska, when it was a part of the Russian empire and this was a mission of monks from the Valaam monastery.
"The history of Orthodoxy in America is associated with the names of two very outstanding people: Metropolitan Veniamin of Moscow, who was a missionary among Aleuts and small nationalities of the North and the Far East, and Patriarch Tikhon, who was a bishop in New York," the patriarch said.
He said that the Russian church participated directly in pastoral work on the American continent, "and this put it in contact with protestant churches of the USA." Dialogue with them and with other religious communities of America was not interrupted for the Moscow patriarchate even in the years of the "cold war," Patriarch Kirill recalled.
"In that time Christians turned out to be capable of working together and making joint statements which in some sense, I think, prepared those changes that occurred in the nineties," he added.
In his turn, John Tefft stated that in his time he visited an Orthodox church in Alaska and had the opportunity to meet with the Orthodox clergy.
He invited the patriarch to a reception in the American embassy in Moscow, which will be held on 3 December, and he congratulated him on his birthday, presenting him a small souvenir. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2014)
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