On 28 May 2012, the Council of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) held its regular session under the chairmanship of Sergei Stepashin, the chairman of the IOPS and the head of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Discussed were the issues of preparation for the upcoming 2nd Conference of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the celebration of the IOPS’s 130th anniversary.
Participating in the meeting on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church were Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad and vice chairman of the IOPS, and archpriest Nikolai Balashov, vice chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations and a member of the IOPS’s Council.
At the session, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, was elected to the Committee of Honorary Members of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill heads the Committee.
Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church