Joint delegation of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) On May 17, 2025, the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by Chairman Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, and the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, headed by Executive Director Egor Skopenko, visited the Zahle Metropolis of the Antiochian Patriarchate as part of a working trip to the Lebanese Republic.
On the morning of May 17, 2025, a ceremony was held to assign one of the streets of the city of Zahle to the representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis. The ceremony was attended by Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Metropolitan Theodore of Volgograd and Kamyshinsky, Metropolitan Alexy of Chelyabinsk and Miass, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Archimandrite Serafim (Shemyatovsky), rector of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in Moscow, Priest Nikolai Vasin, Secretary of the DECR Chairman, Egor Skopenko, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, with his wife, representatives of local authorities, clergy of the Antiochian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Then there was a festive lunch with Metropolitan Anthony of Zahle and Baalbek, with whom issues of cooperation and support for the Russian Orthodox Church by the Antiochian Patriarchate were discussed in a warm conversation.
During the second day of their stay in Lebanon, the delegation of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage met with Metropolitan Silouan of the Lebanese Mountains, who warmly welcomed the representatives of the Foundation. In a friendly atmosphere, the parties discussed the current and future projects of the Foundation, as well as the upcoming great consecration of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" in the city of Zahle.
The day ended with a gala dinner on the occasion of the arrival of the Russian delegation.
Recall that on May 16, 2025, a joint delegation of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) The Moscow Patriarchate and the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage arrived in Ливан to participate in the great consecration of the church built with the help of the Foundation in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" in the city of Zahle. Russian Russian architectural style was built in the temple and it is a symbol of friendship between the Russian and Lebanese peoples.
Photo: website of the Russian Orthodox Church Compound in Beirut