JERUSALEM: February 2, 2021
An international online conference is held to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Church Abroad in the Holy Land

On Thursday, January 28, 2021, on the eve of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the translation of the relics of the Alapaevsk Martyrs to Russian Gethsemane, the first international online conference, titled “The Holy Land and the Russian Church Abroad” took place, organized by the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia).

Participating in the six-hour event were clergy, monastics and scholars from Israel, Russia, the US and Germany. His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, delivered a keynote address to begin the conference.

Reports were read on the history of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, the Orthodox Palestine Society and the Russian monasteries in the Holy Land. The participants learned about the ascetics of the Russian convents in Palestine. The matter of the Russian Church Abroad taking possession of the pre-Revolutionary Russian properties was examined.

The participants were pleased to learn not only about the past, but how the Russian Church Abroad operates a unique iconographic and restoration studio and a school for girls in Bethany.

The Chief of the REM, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), expressed hope that this event would lay the foundation for continuing conferences to be held on an annual basis.

At the conclusion of the conference, His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan thanked everyone for their efforts. A video recording of the event is posted at the YouTube channel ROCORStudies. The lectures will be published in a compendium later this year.