« Archbishop Elisey blessed the masts of HMS Belfast »
19-10-2010 
On 19th October, Archbishop Elisey took part in a solemn ceremony to inaugurate the new masts for the light cruiser HMS Belfast, the last ship to participate in World War II. The vessel has been repaired through the efforts of a team of Russian shipwrights. HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, S.E. Naryshkin, and veterans of the Arctic convoys attended the ceremony.
During the World War II HMS Belfast provided close range heavy cover for convoys transporting supplies and equipment from Great Britain to the Soviet Union and thus made a contribution to the strengthening of comradeship-in-arms between the USSR and Great Britain. At the present time, the cruiser is anchored in the centre of London on the Thames and is a branch of the Imperial War Museum.
Archbishop Elisey invoked the blessing of God upon those who had taken part in the defense of their Motherland together with the Russian allies on board HMS Belfast and blessed the masts of the ship. Then Vladyka expressed the prayerful wish that God would bless the peoples of Great Britain and Russia with peace and well-being.