The 4th Plenary Session of the Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church took place fr om September 19 to 24, 2022, in Moscow.
The Moscow Patriarchate membership included Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen - co-chairman; Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations - secretary; S. G. Alferov, DECR staff. The Coptic side was represented by Metropolitan Serapion of Los Angeles - co-chairman; Bishop Kyrillos, vicar of the Diocese of Los Angeles, rector of the Ss Athanasius and Cyril Seminary in Los Angeles - secretary of the Commission; Hieromonk Dawoud al-Anthony, representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Russia; Dr Anton Milad, Patriarchal adviser; Dr Iskhak Ibrahim Agpan, general secretary of the Institute of Coptic Studies.
The session was preceded by a meeting of the Commission members with His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, which took place on September 20 at the Supreme Church Council Hall of the Cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour. Metropolitan Serapion thanked the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for the welcome and made a report on the Commission’s current activity and further plans for its work. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill cordially greeted the guests pointing to the invariably good relations binding the Moscow Patriarchate and the Coptic Church and to the ages-old friendship between the nations of Russia and Egypt. His Holiness made a special mention of the successful work of the Commission and the high significance of its joint projects. Among them:
- Monastic visits and pilgrimage tours;
- Bilateral theological consultations on the Joint Commission’s work on theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Churches;
- Joint work to promote pastoral care for the faithful of the two Churches residing in Egypt and Russia;
- Academic cooperation between the leading Russian and Coptic theological schools;
- Coptic students’ enrollment in Russian secular universities and maintaining contacts with them on the level of local dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church;
- Contacts between the structures of the two Churches working in the mass media sphere;
- Exchange of the experience between church social service specialists;
- Coordination of cooperation in giving support to suffering Christians in several regions of the world;
- Coordination of cooperation for defending traditional moral values;
- Coordinated cooperation on international platforms.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru
