Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk meets with chairman of Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society S. Stepashin
On April 29, 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, met with the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IOPS), Sergey V. Stepashin. Participating in the meeting were also Ms Ye. Agapova, IOPS vice-chair, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, and Mr. L. Sevastyanov, executive director of the St. Gregory the Theologian Charity.
The talk focused on the situation of Christians in the Middle East, especially Syria and Lebanon and the development of cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the IOPS in giving support to Christians in the region. This work has been carried out with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
At present, as many as ten humanitarian aid shipments have been sent through the IOPS channels to those affected by the civic confrontation in Syria.