The Holy Synod Meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church

May 14, 2018 the Holy Synod Meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church is taking place in the historic building of the Holy Governmental Synod in St. Petersburg, where the Presidential Library is housed, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’.

Opening the meeting, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the members of the Holy Synod with an opening address:

"I greet all the members of the Holy Synod at a regular meeting in the city of St. Petersburg in the historic building where the Holy Synod of Bishops was gathering in the Russian Empire.

The fate of the Russian Orthodox Church was decided in these rooms, bishops were elected, and it is wonderful that we have the opportunity to use these premises, because through work in this building we carry out a kind of spiritual connection with the past, emphasizing the continuity of what was happening in the Russian Orthodox Church outside depending on historical epochs.

Today on the agenda we have issues related to the current activities of our Church. We will talk about the opening of some monasteries, decisions will be made on the election of a candidate for the Episcopal ministry, and many other issues on our agenda.

I am glad to see all - both permanent and temporary members of the Synod".

The permanent members of the Holy Synod are: Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine; Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna; Metropolitan of Chisinau and All Moldova Vladimir; Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan Alexander, head of the Metropolitan district in the Republic of Kazakhstan; Metropolitan Vikentiy of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Central Asian metropolitan district; Metropolitan Varsonofi of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavsk Pavel, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus; Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In relation to the summer session (March-August) of the Holy Synod: Metropolitan of Simferopol and the Crimean Lazarus; Metropolitan of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky Mark; Archbishop of Anadyr and Chukchi Matthew; bishop of Daugavpils and Rezeknensky Alexander; Bishop Nestor of Korsun are welcomed.