On November 12, 2019, the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Dayan Jayatilleka.
From the Embassy side, the meeting was attended by the spouse of Ambassador Sanja Jayatilleka and personal assistant to Ambassador Olesya Romanova; from the DECR side - Secretary for Foreign Affairs Archpriest Sergius Zvonarev.
The Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations welcomed the guests warmly. In the course of the conversation, Metropolitan Hilarion told the senior foreign diplomat about the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church over the last thirty years, the place and role of the Church in the society, and its work with the youth. The Hierarch also spoke about the inter-religious dialogue within Russia, the activities of the Inter-Religious Council (IRC) of Russia, traditional religious communities uniting the country, and the interaction of the IRC with the society and the state.
A separate topic of the conversation pertained to the status of the dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The DECR Chairman informed the guest about the historic meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with Pope Francis that took place in Havana in February 2016, about the areas of cooperation, joint projects, the solidarity of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church on a number of modern issues, including Christian morality and family values.
At the request of the Ambassador, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk spoke about the experience of the Moscow Patriarchate's participation in discussing issues of a public dimension in the framework of the World Russian People's Cathedral.
The meeting participants discussed the historical ups and downs that the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian society had to go through in the 20th century.
At the end of the meeting the parties exchanged souvenirs. Metropolitan Hilarion expressed his good wishes to the Ambassador of Sri Lanka on his path of the responsible service, as well as to the wife of the diplomat.
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