Damascus, July 31, 2019
Photo: pravoslavie.ru
His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and Аll the East received a delegation from Russia last week, which had arrived in Syria on a humanitarian mission with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, as Pravoslavie.ru reports.
The delegation arrived on July 26, and included the chairmen of the Expert Council on Ecclesiastical Art, Architecture, and Restoration, Archpriest Leonid Kalinin from Moscow, as well as V.A. Lantseva, the President of the charitable foundation The Spiritual Heritage of the Apostle Paul.
The meeting was held at the Patriarchal Residence at the Cathedral of the Mother of God in the Maryamie ancient quarter of Damascus.
It is worth noting that the Patriarchal Residence is located on the street called Straight, which is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 9:11), and related to the conversion of St. Paul to Christianity, which happened in the city of Damascus.
The guests from Russia informed the primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church about the charitable projects carried out by The Spiritual Heritage of the Apostle Paul foundation in various places throughout Syria.
His Beatitude Patriarch John X warmly received the Russian guests, and conveyed unto them his primatial blessings. The Russian delegation presented His Beatitude with a hand-made banner bearing the image of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Word was made Flesh.”
The meeting was attended by the Secretary the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, His Grace Bishop Ephraim of Seleucia, and the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, Igumen Arseny (Sokolov).
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Matfey Shaheen
