Orthodox Church in America represented at celebrations in the Republic of Georgia
On October 14, 2010, with the blessing of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah and at the invitation of the Georgian Orthodox Church, His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, and Archimandrite Zacchaeus, Representative of the Orthodox Church in America to the Moscow Patriarchate, participated in the celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Life-Giving Tree here.
Also accompanying Bishop Michael was Archpriest Alexander Tandilashvili, a cleric of the Georgian Orthodox Church who serves in the OCA’s Diocese of New York and New Jersey.
The celebration began with the festal Divine Liturgy, at which His Holiness and Beatitude, Ilia II, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, presided. Concelebrating were His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durres and All Albania; His Beatitude, Metropolitan Christopher, Archbishop of Prague and Primate of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the representatives of each of the 15 Local Autocephalous Orthodox Churches; and numerous hierarchs and clergy of the Patriarchate of Georgia.
Following the Divine Liturgy, congratulatory remarks were offered to Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia by the Primates of the Churches of Albania and the Czech Lands and Slovakia. His Eminence, Metropolitan John of Pergamon, read official greetings from His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Later that day, Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia received Bishop Michael and Archimandrite Zacchaeus for a private meeting, during which the greetings of Metropolitan Jonah and the Holy Synod of Bishops, clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America were conveyed.
For additional information and a photo gallery please visit the web site of the OCA Representation Church of Saint Catherine at http://st-catherine.ru/index.php?lang=eng&sitepartid=9&id=2016&level=0.