Head of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan Visits Minsk Theological Academy

On August 7, 2024, in Minsk, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, who is on a pilgrimage visit to Belarus at the invitation of Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, visited the Minsk Theological Academy.

Accompanying the Head of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan were: Archbishop Amphilochius of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk, Secretary of the Metropolitan District and Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, Acting Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Secretary of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Diocese Deacon Ilya Kwan, staff members of the Almaty Diocesan Administration, and benefactors of the Metropolitan District.

With the blessing of the Patriarchal Exarch, Metropolitan Alexander and the accompanying Kazakhstani pilgrims were welcomed by the Rector of the Academy, Archimandrite Athanasius (Sokolov), along with staff and students. The delegation members visited the house church in honor of Saint Cyril of Turov, the library named after Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeev), the assembly hall, classrooms, and the rector's office. For the Academy's library, Metropolitan Alexander donated a set of theological and church history literature published in Kazakhstan.

In recognition of his efforts in spiritual education and his contribution to the development of cooperation between the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary and the Minsk Theological Academy, Archimandrite Athanasius was awarded the Order of Saint Sophonius (Sokolsky), Archbishop of Tashkent and the enlightener of the Seven Rivers region.

The prospects for the development of cooperation between the theological schools of Belarus and Kazakhstan were the subject of discussion between Metropolitan Alexander of Kazakhstan, the Rector of the Academy, Archimandrite Athanasius, and the Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary, Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov.

At the conclusion of the visit, Metropolitan Alexander left an entry in the guest book: "Together with the Kazakhstani delegation, we visited the theological school—the Theological Academy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. We sincerely wish the faculty and staff blessed success in their academic endeavors. Invoking God's blessing, Metropolitan Alexander."

On the same day, in the academic church, Metropolitan Alexander participated in the recording of the program "Touching the Light" by the Synodal Information Department of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and answered questions from Belarusian television journalists. The technical support for the recording of the program was provided by the Academy's information service.

With materials from the official website of the Minsk Theological Academy.