Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia met with leadership of Buddhist Sangha of Myanmar

On May 6, 2023, the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by the Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia, Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and South-East Asia met with the leadership of the highest Myanmar Buddhist monastic supervisory body of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee at the Maha Nayaka Monastery in Yangon.

Metropolitan Sergiy was greeted by the Secretary General of the Committee, Dr. Sayadaw Kandimalankara, who introduced the guest from Russia to the current state of the Buddhist sangha in Myanmar. The followers of Buddhism in the country make almost 80% of the republic’s population, as the traditional religions of Myanmar include: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity.

The Patriarchal Exarch shared with the members of the committee the results of past meetings with representatives of the state authorities of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the mutual understanding reached on the development of the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country. Metropolitan Sergiy expressed hope that the Russian Orthodox communities of Myanmar will become an organic part of the multi-confessional religious community of this Asian country.

The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar N.A. Listopadov; Secretary of the Thai Diocese of the Patriarchal Exarchate of South-East Asia Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin); representative of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate D.I. Petrovsky; Hierodeacon Juvenaly (Marushchak); Warden of the Transfiguration Parish in Yangon Y.M. Gontarenko; Attaché of the Russian Embassy in Yangon N.A. Perminov and representatives of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.