On November 16, 2021, a joint meeting of Russian and Syrian inter-agency coordination committees on the repatriation of refugees took part in Ebla Hotels in a Damascus suburb.
With a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church was represented at the meeting by Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Antioch and All East.
On November 17, a round-table conference on “Syria in the world blockade. How to win a war and not to lose peace” was held at the same place under the chairmanship of Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Feisal Mekdad, in which Hegumen Arseny took part. In his remarks, he spoke about the efforts made by the Russian Orthodox Church to help Orthodox Christians in Syria to restore war-damaged churches and to carry our various humanitarian actions in Syria with the participation of the Damascus Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate.
After the round-table conference, Father Arseny presented Mr F. Mekdad with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia’s book “Freedom and Responsibility” in the Arabic version.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru