Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan Visits the National Medical Research Center of Otorhinolaryngology, FMBA of Russia

September 10, 2024. Moscow. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan visited the National Medical Research Center of Otorhinolaryngology of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) of Russia.

The Metropolitan was welcomed by the center's director, Professor Nikolai Arkadyevich Daikhes.

N.A. Daikhes is the Vice President of the National Medical Association of Otorhinolaryngologists, Chief Freelance Otorhinolaryngologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Chief Freelance Otorhinolaryngologist of the FMBA of Russia, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and an honored figure in Russian science.

In the St. Nicholas Chapel of the medical research center, Metropolitan Alexander led a service (moleben) to ask for God’s help for the doctors and staff and for the healing of the sick.

The Metropolitan venerated the relics and icons housed in the church, including icons with relics of Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Luke the Doctor and Archbishop of Crimea, and Blessed Matrona of Moscow, as well as a reliquary with a piece of the Holy Sepulchre.

Following the visit to the chapel, Metropolitan Alexander met with Professor Daikhes. During their discussion, the director shared the achievements of the research center during the summer of 2024.

His Eminence informed Nikolai Arkadyevich about the life of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Astana and Almaty Diocese this year. The Metropolitan shared that as part of the anniversary celebrations, a revered relic—a reliquary containing the relics and vestments of Blessed Matrona of Moscow—would be brought to Kazakhstan, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. The Metropolitan extended an invitation to Professor Daikhes to attend the festivities in Astana from September 27 to 29.

The two also discussed plans for further collaboration in providing pastoral care to medical staff and patients through clergy from the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and Sophia at Miusy, and strengthening ties between the Scientific-Clinical Center and the Medical Center of the Kazakhstan Metropolis named after St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) in Almaty.