On April 8, 2025, the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate hosted a meeting between Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the DECR, and representatives of the scientific community of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Protopresbyter Zoran Rankovic, Dean of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of Belgrade State University, and Zoran Nedeljkovic, Director of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate.
From April 2 to 5, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia, members of the delegation visited St. Petersburg, where they visited scientific libraries, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and also worshiped Orthodox shrines and got acquainted with the sights of the city on the Neva.
The guests shared their impressions of working in Russian book depositories, told Metropolitan Anthony about the activities of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade and the collection of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate. During the conversation, the topics of expanding cooperation between the Russian and Serbian Churches in the scientific and educational fields were raised. The interlocutors also touched upon the current challenges for pan-Orthodox unity.
The meeting was attended by the DECR Deputy Chairman, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, and DECR employee A.Y. Khoshev.