Head of Department of External Relations of UOC-Moscow Patriarchate: Holy Rus Is Not Only Common History but also Present and Future

On November 17, bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine conducted a public prayer at the site where the three states meet near the Poklinnyi Cross. The prayer was served to mark the completion of the visit to Ukraine of the head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk.

In addition to Metropolitan Ilarion, the prayer “for the well-being of three brotherly nations” was served by Archbishop Anvrosii of Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siverskyi, Bishop Feofilakt of Briansk and Sevsk, and Vicar of the Homel Eparchy, Bishop Leonid Rechytskyi. 

Metropolitan Ilarion stressed that the Holy Rus is not just a common history but also the present and future, reported the press service of the Department of External Church Relations of the ROC.

“And today, despite the fact that political borders divide us, the spiritual unity binding our nations supersedes political borders and political divisions,” noted the representative of the ROC as he stressed the inseparable connection between Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.