ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Exarchate of Parishes of Russian
Tradition in Western Europe

Archbishop Gabriel takes part in the Patriarchal Delegation to Kiev

Archbishop Gabriel was invited by His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to take part in the patriarchal delegation which accompanied him to Kiev on the 25-27 July 2008, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 1020th anniversary of the conversion of Kievan Rus’ to Christianity

Archbishop Gabriel travelled to Istanbul on 24 July, to meet with the Patriarch and the other members of the patriarchal delegation. Archimandrite Job, professor at the Orthodox Theological Institute of St Sergius and member of the Council of the Archdiocese, was also part of this delegation.

On 25 July, on his arrival in Kiev, Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the patriarchal delegation travelled to the Monastery of the Caves of Kiev, where there were welcomed by Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Moscow). A doxology was celebrated in the abbey church of the Dormition, in the presence of the Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko as well as of Archbishop Hieronymos of Athens, head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, and Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, head of the Orthodox Church of Albania. Afterwards the Patriarch visited various monuments in the town: the statue of St Vladimir on the cliffs above the river Dniepr, and the monuments to the holy Princess Olga, to the Apostle Andrew, and to Sts Cyril and Methodius.

In the evening, the Patriarch presided at a celebration of Solemn Vespers in the Cathedral of St Sophia, whose foundations were laid in the middle of the eleventh century. The service was celebrated in Greek and Slavonic with two choirs, that of the Cathedral of St George in the Phanar, and that of the Lavra of the Caves of Kiev. The following day, the Patriarch celebrated a Panikhida for the departed before the memorial to victims of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, situated near the monastery of St Michael of the Golden Domes.

The culmination of the celebrations was the Divine Liturgy, celebrated in the open air, on Sunday 27 July, at the foot of the vast statute of St Vladimir, by the heads of several local Orthodox Churches – among them the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Moscow, Alexis II, Archbishop Jerome of Athens, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana – as well as by the head of the autonomous Orthodox Church of the Ukraine, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, and the members of the Ukrainian episcopate, and various delegations from other Orthodox Churches – a hundred bishops in total.

In the afternoon, a meeting took place at the Monastery of the Caves of Kiev between delegations from the various Orthodox Churches present and the members of the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. On this occasion, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev presented the Ecumenical Patriarch and members of the delegation that accompanied him with a series of honours and gifts – the jubilee medal, and a gramata of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Church, as well as a panagia to each of the bishops and a pectoral cross to the priests.

Afterwards, a bilateral discussion took place between Patriarch Bartholomew I and Patriarch Alexis II concerning in particular the situation of Orthodoxy in the Ukraine, which enabled them to reach a common position on this question between the leaders of the two patriarchates. Before leaving Kiev for Istanbul in the evening. The Ecumenical Patriarch and his delegation again took part in a doxology in the Cathedral of the Resurrection, marking the end of this three-day visit to the Ukraine.

On 2 July 2008, the General Secretariat of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople had published the following communiqué:

During the session of 23-25 June of this year, the Holy Synod took cognisance of the invitation addressed by His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow to send a patriarchal delegation to the Ukraine to take part in the ceremonies linked with the 1020th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus’, as well as of the invitation sent by the President of the Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, to the Ecumenical Patriarch to come and preside at the ceremonies in question. Having evaluated these invitations on behalf of the Church, the State, and the Ukrainian people, and out of respect for their feelings, the Mother Church, which guided the Ukrainian people to Baptism, has decided to respond to these invitations by sending a patriarchal delegation led by His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew.

Archbishop Gabriel returned to Paris on 28 July 2008 after a brief stay in Istanbul.

See also a report in the New York Times, 30 July 2008