The Representative of the Patriarch of Antioch to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Awarded an Order of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District

November 20, 2024. Moscow. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan visited the Church of the Archangel Gabriel and Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, the metochion of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, where he met with Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, Representative of the Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and Rector of the Antiochian Metochion in Moscow.

The meeting was attended by Pavel Gumenyuk, Head of the Eastern European Relations Department of the international charitable foundation “Kirche in Not” (Aid to the Church in Need), and Igor Yatsenko, an assistant to Metropolitan Alexander.

Metropolitan Niphon was one of the participants in the episcopal consecration of Metropolitan Alexander, which took place in 1989 at the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo, Moscow.

The Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District presented Metropolitan Niphon with the Order of “Beibitshilik Pen Kelisim” (Peace and Concord). The high award of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was bestowed in recognition of his efforts in fostering relations between the Representation of the Antiochian Church and the Church of Kazakhstan and in honor of his 65 years of service in the sacred ministry.

Metropolitan Alexander highlighted that Metropolitan Niphon’s many years of dedicated service as Rector of the Antiochian Metochion in Moscow have earned him deep respect among Russian archpastors, clergy, and Orthodox residents of the capital, as well as the love of parishioners, including members of the Antiochian diaspora—Syrians, Palestinians, and Lebanese.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan informed Metropolitan Niphon about the activities of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, including youth, educational, and social projects. He provided statistical data on the number of monasteries, parishes, and clergy and shared plans for events in the Republic’s dioceses dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the canonical status of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.

Metropolitan Alexander also informed the Rector of the Antiochian Metochion about the arrival in Kazakhstan, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, of the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow, a saint especially venerated by Orthodox Christians. He noted that more than 300,000 people have venerated the relics during their stay in the Republic.

Metropolitan Alexander invited the Representative of the Antiochian Church to visit Kazakhstan, which the late Patriarch Alexy II described as an “antimension spread under the open sky,” and to venerate the relics of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Kazakhstan.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the hierarchs exchanged wishes for God’s help in their service to the Church of Christ.