On 17 November 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, visited the Ministry of Awqaf of the Syrian Arab Republic and met with the Minister, Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed. Taking part in the meeting were also Islamic leaders of Damascus and members of the Russian delegation that had arrived in Syria together with Metropolitan Hilarion.
The Minister greeted the guests on behalf of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and thanked them for visiting the Syrian land with the view of promoting the humanitarian initiatives aimed at rendering aid to the Syrian people. He also expressed gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the religious communities of Russia and the Russian government for rendering assistance to the suffering Syrians, and noted that it is thanks to the Russian aid that a large part of Syria was liberated from terrorists.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk greeted the Minister on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, noting that one the major tasks now is the restoration of peaceful life and infrastructure, including the religious one, in Syria. As Metropolitan Hilarion noted, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian religious communities will support this good endeavour. He added that the delegation which includes representatives of the Muslim and Protestant communities of Russia and of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation arrived in Syria to discuss possible projects in this sphere.
After the meeting the Minister of Awqaf gave a dinner in honour of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk and the delegation that accompanied him.
That same day head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations met with the Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun.
They had a frank talk about the current situation in Syria and further prospects for interreligious dialogue. Metropolitan Hilarion informed the Grand Mufti that he came to Damascus as head of a Russian interreligious delegation with the aim to discuss further humanitarian projects for the Syrian people with heads and high-ranking representatives of Christian and Muslim communities in the country.
In his turn, Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun expressed gratitude for the aid and support given consistently by the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church from the very beginning of the armed conflict in 2011. The religious leader of Syrian Muslims recalled with warmth his recent visit to Russia and talk with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in 2018.
Participating in the meeting were also Metropolitan Niphon of Philippople, representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch See of Antioch; Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; and Sub-Deacon Vyacheslav Li.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru