On December 9, 2021, in Zagreb, Croatia, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Archpriest Nikolay Balashov and a delegation of the Foundation for Support of Christian Culture and Heritage led by the Foundation executive director Ye. I. Skopenko, visited the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana, where they met with the Protodean of the cathedral, Bogoljub Ostojic and the clergy of the cathedral. Archimandrite Daniel (Ljubotina), a cleric of the Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana, introduced the guests to the history and the present life of the parish. As the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord was damaged by an earthquake in 2020, now the restoration work is being carried out in it.
Accompanied by Rev. Michael Dzikic, a cleric of the Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana, the guests went to the Mirogoj Cemetery to see the burial places of Russian emigres and to visit the Orthodox chapels - the Serbian Chapel of Ss Peter and Paul and the Chapel of the Resurrection of Christ built in the Russian architectural style in 1928. In the latter chapel, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov said the Prayer for the Repose of the Souls of the Russian compatriots lying in rest in the cemetery.
In the Russian Federation embassy in Zagreb, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov and Mr. Skopenko met with Russia’s Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Croatia A. A. Nesterenko.
Taking part in the visits were also Archpriest Vitaly Tarasjev, rector of the Belgrade Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church, Yu. A. Khoshev, a staff member of the DECR Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations, and members of the Foundation’s delegation.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru