Putin invites the Patriarch of Jerusalem for the celebrations of the Baptism of Russia
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, to visit Russia next July to mark the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Christian Russia, the Interfax news agency reported.
The Russian leader received the patriarch at his residence in Sochi, on the Black Sea, on Monday. Theophilos is in Russia to mark the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, evangelisers of the Slavs (24 May).
In their meeting, Putin thanked the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem for supporting Russia's initiative to build a hotel for pilgrims on the bank of the Jordan River. He also spoke about traditionally good relations between the Moscow and Jerusalem patriarchates.
For his part, Kirill said that these contacts will hopefully "facilitate all the good initiatives Russia has been implementing for the sake of peace in the Middle East."
"It is very important that peace, prosperity and tranquility set in the Holy Land, blessed by God's feet," the patriarch added.
Patriarch Theophilos said his visit to Russia was of great historical significance. "This visit is a seal that cements relations between our churches, and between the godly Russian people and the godly people of Palestine," he said, then thanked Putin for his commitment to peace and the defence of the holy places.
The primate also noted that Putin's recent visit to Israel, Palestine and Jordan was "of enormous importance from the political and religious points of view".
"We pray for you as a leader who attaches primary importance to the cause of strengthening human and Orthodox values," he told Putin.
In addition to the Russian president, Theophilus also met with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
Traditionally, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Baptism of Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the Divine Liturgy on the feast day of Saint Vladimir (28 July) in Kiev, "the cradle of the Baptism of Russia", as Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Department for External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, put it.
The Baptism of ancient Russia occurred in what is now the Ukraine. In 2010, the Russian Duma passed a law that recognised as a national holiday the day when, in the late summer of 988, Prince Vladimir ordered the inhabitants of Kiev to come to the banks of the Dnieper River to be baptised by Byzantine priests.
The event marked the beginning of a long process of Christianisation of what is now Russia, an event that also binds all Slavs, something to which the Russian patriarch often appeals.
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