The Final Synod Meeting of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan for 2024 Held in Almaty

December 30, 2024. Almaty. Under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the final Synod meeting of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan for the current year took place.

The members of the Synod of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan include: Archbishop Barnabas of Pavlodar and Ekibastuz; Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk; Archbishop Amphilochius of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk; Archbishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola; Archbishop Vladimir of Petropavlovsk and Bulayevo; Chancellor of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen; Bishop Ignatius of Aktobe and Kyzylorda; Vicar Bishop of the Astana Diocese, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan; Bishop Chrysantus of Shymkent and Turkestan; Vicar Bishop of the Astana Diocese, Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; honorary member – Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko).

After a collective prayer, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan greeted the hierarchs with an opening speech and announced the meeting’s agenda.

The Synod’s work commenced with a report by Metropolitan Alexander on his meetings with government officials of Kazakhstan and Russia and heads of diplomatic missions, including Senate Chairman of the Parliament of Kazakhstan M.S. Ashimbaev; Mayor of Almaty Y.E. Dosayev; and Russia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Kazakhstan, A.N. Borodavkin.

The Synod members noted the significance of the meeting between His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Maulen Sagathanuly Ashimbaev, which took place on November 22, 2024, in the Throne Hall of the Patriarchal and Synodal Residence at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.

The Synod reviewed the outcomes of spiritually and educationally significant events held across the dioceses of Kazakhstan in honor of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Astana and Almaty Diocese.

The Head of the Metropolis briefed the hierarchs on his visits to the Uralsk, Kostanay, Pavlodar, and Karaganda dioceses, which included divine services, the bringing of the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow, interactions with clergy and faithful, and meetings with regional government officials.

Metropolitan Alexander informed the Synod members about events held in the Southern capital, including the “XXII Almaty Orthodox Educational Readings in Memory of Saint Sophonius (Sokolsky), Archbishop of Turkestan and Enlightener of Semirechye”; the international scientific and practical conference for choir directors of the Kazakhstan Metropolis, titled “The Ministry of the Choir Director in the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan: The Path to Excellence”; and the scholarly forum “Eastern Christianity on the Silk Road (In Memory of P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky).”

The Synod heard reports from the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen. His Grace provided updates on his participation in the XXII Session of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions; his work in the commissions of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on issues of public life, culture, science, and information; his participation in the general assembly of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church; and the conference “The Global Majority and Traditional Values.”

Reports on their respective dioceses’ activities in 2024 were presented by Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk; Bishop Ignatius of Aktobe and Kyzylorda; and Bishop Chrysantus of Shymkent and Turkestan.

The minutes of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan will be published following their approval by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (see Article 9 of Chapter XIII of the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church: “The journals of the Synod of the Metropolis are submitted to the Holy Synod and approved by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia”).