« DECR Chairman Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk begins his visit to Great Britain »

On September 9, 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relation, met with the deputy director of the UN Drug and Crime Office, Mr. Yuri Fedotov, at the Russian embassy in London. Metropolitan Hilarion is on a visit to Great Britain with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and on invitation by Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury. Until recently, Mr. Fedotov was Russian ambassador to Great Britain.

In the course of their talk, Mr. Fedotov pointed out that now the disorders in the diocese of Surozh were things of the past, and Russian Orthodox parishes in England were filled with new parishioners. He also informed the metropolitan about his new appointment.

In discussing the problem of narcomania, Mr Fedotov pointed to a special role that the Church could play in exposing the romantic halo around this dangerous social illness. The DECR chairman in his turn, stressed that it was possible to ‘de-romanticize’ it only if state, Church and mass media united their efforts in this struggle.

In the conclusion of the meeting, the sides expressed readiness to engage in broad cooperation in the area of spiritual and moral education in today’s society.

DECR Communication Service