Autocephalous Archbishop Isichenko Visits Egypt

05.11.2002, 20:30

Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko) of Kharkiv and Poltava of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church visited Egypt from 17 to 31 October 2002. Archbishop Ihor, who is also the director of the Ukrainian Center of Byzantine and Patristic Studies, came at the invitation of Bishop Gabriel of Beni Suef of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Archbishop Isichenko met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria. He presented the patriarch a book entitled “The Monasticism of Ancient Egypt,” the latest publication of the Ukrainian Center of Byzantine and Patristic Studies. During his stay in Egypt, the archbishop visited the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Cairo. He also delivered a lecture, “The Orthodox Perspective in Ukrainian History: 988-2002,” at the Coptic Theological Seminary at the monastery of the Holy Mother of God in El-Mukharrak. Later, Archbishop Ihor visited the eparchial administration in Beni Suef and got acquainted with the life of monastic communities in Egypt. In addition, Archbishop Isichenko met with Dr. Nos’hi Abdel-Shahid, director of the Center for Patristic Studies in Cairo. The Patristic Center in Cairo translates the works of the church fathers into Arabic. The Ukrainian hierarch and Dr. Abel-Shahid agreed on cooperation between the patristic centers in Kyiv and Cairo. Source: information center “Agia Sophia”