Metropolitan Jonah concludes visit to Russia for 15th Anniversary of the Establishment of the OCA Representation Church in Moscow
On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, His Beatitude, the Most Blessed Metropolitan Jonah of All America and Canada, concluded his pastoral visit to Saint Catherine the Great Martyr Church, the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America.
During the course of his visit to Moscow, which was made at the invitation of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia specifically to participate in the 15th anniversary celebration of the establishment of Saint Catherine Church as the official Representation of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Jonah had the opportunity to concelebrate with and participate in a detailed conversation with Patriarch Kirill, meet with several hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, and serve at and visit various monasteries and parishes throughout Moscow.
Accompanying Metropolitan Jonah to the airport to bid him farewell on behalf of Patriarch Kirill was His Grace, Bishop Aleksandr of Dmitrov, Patriarchal Vicar. Likewise, Archimandrite Zacchaeus, Dean of the Representation Church, and the parish clergy and staff and workers of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate also escorted the Metropolitan to the airport to receive his Primatial blessing before he departed for the United States.