On December 3, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia hosted the delegation from the Orthodox Church in America headed by her Primate, His Beatitude Tikhon, Metropolitan of all America and Canada at the Patriarchal Residence in Danilov Monastery in Moscow. 

Before the meeting, Metropolitan Tikhon presided over the Thanksgiving Moleben in the Patriarchal Chapel dedicated to all Saints Glorified in the Russian Lands. His Holiness prayed in the altar. The heads of the two churches were joined by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; Administrative Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Sergey of Solnechnogorsk; the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Vice-Chairman of DECR; DECR Secretary for Inter-Orthodox Relations, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk; Deputy-Abbot of Danilov Monastery, Archimandrite Alexey (Polikarpov); DECR member of the secretariet of Inter-Orthodox Relations, D. Petrovsky.

The delegation from the Orthodox Church in America consisted of Bishop Alexander of Toledo; Archpriest John Jillions, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America; Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of the Office of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations of the Orthodox Church in America; Archpriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the Orthodox Church in America; Archpriest Nazary Polataiko, Secretary of the Archdiocese of Canada; Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, Secretary of the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America; Ms. Melanie Ringa, Treasurer of the Orthodox Church in America; Mr. Roman Ostash, Assistant to the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

At the conclusion of the Moleben, Patriarch Kirill greeted Metropolitan Tikhon and welcomed him to Moscow. 

The Primates then proceeded to hold an official meeting between the two churches in which a wide range of topics were discussed regarding church life. 

Commemorating his visit to Moscow, Patriarch Kirill gifted Metropolitan Tikhon with Hierarchal vestments and a miter.

Members of the OCA delegation were presented with the Patriarchal pin commemorating the 700th Anniversary of the birth of St. Segius of Radonezh. 

Metropolitan Tikhon then gifted His Holiness with a cross, icons of the Holy Theotokos and St. Herman of Alaska and a piece of the relics of the Righteous Alexis Toth. 

Article translated in part by the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA with materials from the DECR Official Website

Photographs courtesy of the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia