MOSCOW: February 6, 2007
Preparations Continue for the Restoration of Canonical Communion Between the Russian Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate

On February 6, 2007, the Secretary of the Inter-Orthodox Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Protopriest Nikolai Balashov, met with Priest Serafim Gan, the personal secretary of the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus, at the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Under discussion were various matters connected with the forthcoming signing of the Act of Canonical Communion and the visit to Russia of a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus.

It is expected that participating in this event in Moscow will be a large delegation of clergymen and laypersons of the Russian Church Abroad, representing all her dioceses all over the world. At the first divine service, which will be led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia along with His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus and the eminent archpastors of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, a composite choir of the part of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad under the direction of Peter A Fekula will sing. Other matters relating to the pilgrimage to the holy sites of the fatherland by the bishops, clergymen and laypersons of the Russian Church Abroad were also discussed.