NEW YORK: August 31, 2010
Metropolitan Ilarion, President of the Department of External Church Relations, Visits the Synodal Residence of the Primate of the Russian Church Abroad

On August 30, 2010, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York received His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk, President of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, during the latter’s working visit to the United States.

After venerating the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God and the other relics and icons of the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, Metropolitan Ilarion proceeded to the residence of the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, where the two archpastors had a fraternal meeting. Metropolitan Hilarion then hosted a reception in honor of the important visitor, attended by His Grace Bishop Jerome of Manhattan and members of the Synodal Administration.

After lunch, Metropolitan Ilarion went to venerate the holy altar and icons of St Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York, then visited His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Head of the Greek Archdiocese in the USA. During the meeting, held in a warm, gregarious atmosphere, they discussed matters of mutual interest. Protopriest Mark Arey and Protopriest Serafim Gan also participated.  

That evening, His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah of America and Canada of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Ilarion and Metropolitan Hilarion visited St Seraphim Church in Sea Cliff, NY, where they venerated its holy icons and relics and reviewed the ongoing fresco work commemorating the many centuries of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and the reestablishment of its unity. At the trapeza dinner that followed, Metropolitan Jonah and the other hierarchs discussed matters of the Church in the USA. Also participating were Protopriest Alexander Garklavs, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America; Protopriest Leonid Kishkovsky, Head of External Relations for the OCA, and Fr Serafim, Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and Personal Secretary of the First Hierarch of ROCOR.