Metropolitan Alexander Chairs Meeting of the Diocesan Council of the Astana and Almaty Diocese

May 7, 2026. Almaty. In the building of the Administrative and Spiritual-Cultural Center of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan chaired a meeting of the diocesan council of the Astana and Almaty Diocese.

Participating in the meeting were: Administrator of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; dean of the parishes of Almaty and rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov; chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Metropolitan District and rector of the Protection Church of the Southern Capital Archpriest Evgeny Bobylev; rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary and head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; head of the Public Relations Department of the Metropolitan District and secretary of the diocesan council Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; cleric of the Ascension Cathedral of the Southern Capital Archpriest Alexander Ievlev; personal secretary of the Head of the Metropolitan District Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek).

Also participating in the meeting was the Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikov.

After the common prayer, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan greeted those gathered with an opening address, congratulated them on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ and Defender of the Fatherland Day, and then announced the agenda.

Those present heard a report by Archpriest Valery Zakharov on preparations for the celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the return of St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Southern Capital to the Orthodox Church, which will take place on May 10. The dean reported that all preparatory work for the upcoming commemorative events had been completed, including the timely announcement of the spiritual celebrations. The Head of the Metropolitan District positively assessed the organization of the historically significant celebration and invited everyone to take an active part in it.

Archpriest Alexander Suvorov commented on the statement of the Public Relations Department of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan concerning the use of the image of clergy in artificially generated content, published on official church internet resources several days earlier, and also acquainted the council members with new amendments to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Responsible Treatment of Animals.”

During the meeting, organizational matters concerning the holding in Almaty of a number of cultural and educational events were discussed, including the International Choral Festival “Paschal Song,” the presentation of a service book in the Kazakh language, and a performance by a renowned Byzantine choir from the Holy Mountain of Athos. Head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov presented his proposals for implementing the planned programs.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Metropolitan Alexander thanked those gathered and bestowed his archpastoral blessing upon all.