Regular Session of Synod of Russian Orthodox Church Held at Kyiv Caves Monastery

On July 27, at the Synodal Hall of the Kyiv Metropolis at Kyiv Cave Monastery, under the chairmanship of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, a regular meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held.

According to the web site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, the permanent members of the Holy Synod are: Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of all Belarus, Metropolitan Yuvenaly  of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and all Moldova, Metropolitan Varsonofiy of Saransk and Mordovia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.

Among those invited to participate in meetings of the summer session (March-August 2011) also were: Metropolitan Ioannikiy of Luhansk and Alchevsk, Archbishop Theophanes of Berlin and Germany, Archbishop Manuel of Petrozavodsk and Karelia, Archbishop Jonah of Astrakhan, Archbishop Rostislav of Tomsk and Asinov.

Before the meeting, Patriarch Kirill addressed the members of the Synod and made a brief welcoming speech. The Primate of the Russian Church expressed particular pleasure that the session of the synod is  held again in the walls of the Kyiv Caves Laura, near the imperishable relics of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyivan Caves.

Among the other things, the message of the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Volodymyr on the Jubilee Council, held in July this year, was heard.