On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Representation (Metochion) of the Russian Orthodox Church in Beirut, His Beatitude Patriarch John X received His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Metropolitan Anthony was accompanied by Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Advisor to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The meeting was also attended by former Russian Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin, President of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, and His Excellency Mr. Alexander Rudakov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Lebanon.
The meeting focused on the historic fraternal ties between the Churches of Antioch and Russia and ways to further strengthen these relations. Discussions also addressed the current state of Christian affairs and interchurch relations.
Following the meeting, a joint choir recital was held for the occasion, featuring the Moscow Synodal Choir and the Choir of the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at Balamand.
Taking place in the historic hall of Balamand Monastery the choir was attended by ecclesiastical and official dignitaries, members of the Russian community in Beirut and a large crowd.