« His Holiness Patriarch Kirill thanked the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Sourozh for the organisation of his primatial visit to Great Britain »

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent a letter of thanks to Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh in which he expressed his gratitude to the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Sourozh for the organisation of his primatial visit to Great Britain on the occasion of the 300 years of the presence of Russian Orthodoxy in the British Isles.

To His Eminence, Archbishop ELISEY of Sourozh

Your Eminence!

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you and to your co-workers for the hospitality shown to me and to those who accompanied me during the time of my visit to the Diocese of Sourozh, and also for the work involved in preparing for the visit.

It was a joy for me to celebrate the consecration of the Dormition Cathedral in London, to serve the Divine Liturgy there and to converse with the local clergy and lay people. With a special feeling I prayerfully honoured at Brompton cemetery the memory of Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) – the first ruling bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh.

It is encouraging to see that today the united Russian Church, which is taking pastoral care of 

thousands of Orthodox Christians living in the British Isles, is not only helping them to preserve their spiritual identity, but is also open to all those inhabitants of  ‘foggy Albion’ who are looking for salvation.

I wish you, together with the clergy and lay people of the Diocese of Sourozh, good health, peace and the guidance of God in all your good undertakings.

With love in the Lord,

+KIRILL

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia