Pat. John will attend the Archdiocese’s 56th Biennial Convention, which will be hosted by St. George Antiochian Church in Phoenix July 23-30.
For centuries, the icon found its home on the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra outside Moscow. When the godless communists seized control of Russia, they moved the icon to a museum, where it remained for a century. But in May, President Putin ordered the revered icon to be returned to the Church.
Met. Pavel has been under house arrest since early April. He was given two months, but Kiev courts have repeatedly extended the measure against him, most recently on June 30.
The St. Procopios Church is one of many that were seized and repurposed as places of entertainment under the communist regime.
This is the second story involving Georgian Orthodox clergy and poison in recent years.