Archbishop Ieronymos Returns from Russia With ‘Presents’

By Marianna Tsatsou on May 28, 2012 in news, Russia

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Email0 ShareThis9 Two generous deals are the ‘presents’ that Archbishop Ieronymos and metropolitan bishops, who accompanied him to Russia, carried back home.
Russians and Greeks made an agreement to cooperate closely in order to promote religious tourism in both countries. Moreover, they decided to develop programmes in order to support vulnerable groups of both societies.
Despite the fact that the Archbishop has not officially returned, these agreements have already been communicated to the public. The Patriarchate of Moscow and the Greek Orthodox Church have rekindled their relations through these agreements.
As for religious tourism, the Russian Church agreed to encourage Russians to visit the religious destinations of Greece. With this agreement, the Greek Church aspires to attract Russian tourists to Greece and help solve the financial problems that the Church has to deal with.
The second agreement between the Russian and Greek Churches has to do with charity. The Russian Orthodox Church decided to support programmes for impoverished and unemployed people in Greece. Furthermore, the Russians will also support the Archdiocese’s daily kitchen soups financially.
In return, the Russians asked that Greek officials allow them to establish a representation office of the Russian Church in Athens.