On December 24, 2021, members the Russian Federation State Duma group for relations with the Syrian Parliament visited the Damascus Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Among the guests were Sh. V. Karaool, vice-chairman of the State Duma; S. V. Sablin, coordinator of the group; S.A. Gavrilov, A.A. Yushchenko and N.S. Valuyev, as well as members of the governments of Moscow, Vladimir and Kaluga regions; and activists of the Russian National Veterans’ Organization “Boyevoye Bratstvo” (Combat Brothers).
The representative Russian delegation is making a tour of Syria, carrying out a series of humanitarian actions timed to the feast of the Nativity of Christ according to the New Julian Calendar.
In the domestic Chapel of the Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, members of the delegation took part in the thanksgiving celebrated by Hegumen Arseniy (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and then made a tout of the Damask Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church.
After the thanksgiving, a reception took place at the Representation for the guests from Russia. Present were also staff members of the Russian embassy in Syria led by counsellor minister E. M. Kurbanov; N. B. Sukhov, director of the Russian House in Damascus; Archdeacon Hilarion (Beshara), secretary to the Patriarch of Antioch; and representatives of the Syrian Parliament, Russian and Syrian journalists.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru