Stepashin elected chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society
Sergey
Stepashin, chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber, has been elected
chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society at its meeting
devoted to its 125th anniversary.
His name was blessed by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The
Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IOPS) is the oldest Russian
scholarly and humanitarian organization whose stated task is to promote
Orthodox pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to carry out Palestinian studies
and to maintain humanitarian cooperation with the Middle East peoples.
The principal aim of the Palestinian society at the present state is to undertake a full-scale restoration of its legal and actual presence both inside and outside Russia. One of its main tasks is to return the IOPS' property abroad, including that of St. Sergius's church mission, to Russia.
Interfax