Author: Таиландская епархия

From May 3 to May 8, 2023, the Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia, Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and South-East Asia is visiting the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

On May 3, 2023, a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Sergiy arrived in Yangon. At the airport, His Eminence Sergiy and those who accompany him were met by representatives of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Russian Embassy in Myanmar, and the Transfiguration Parish in Yangon.

On May 4, 2023, in the capital of Myanmar, Naypyidaw, the Patriarchal Exarch met with representatives of the state authorities of the country.

At a meeting with the Chairman of the State Administrative Council of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Metropolitan Sergiy expressed gratitude to the authorities for supporting the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, aimed at providing spiritual support to our compatriots temporarily or permanently residing in Myanmar. The interlocutors discussed the positive potential of contacts in the religious sphere for the development of relations between Russia and Myanmar.

In a conversation with the Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Mr. Aung Ko, the Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia discussed a wide range of issues of Russian-Myanmar relations in the religious sphere and a number of practical aspects of the activities of the Orthodox communities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country.

The meetings were 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 Southeast Asia Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin), representative of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate D.I. Petrovsky, and Hierodeacon Juvenaly (Marushchak).

During their stay in Naypyidaw, the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church got acquainted with the sights of the capital of Myanmar.

On January 22, the 32nd Sunday after Pentecost and after Theophany, the day of commemorating Holy Hierarch Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, the wonderworker, with the blessing of the Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia, Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and South-East Asia, temporarily ruling the Thai diocese, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the territory of the Russian Embassy in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The divine service was performed by the cleric of the Stavropol diocese, priest Anthony Skrynnikov.

The service was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Myanmar Nikolay Alexandrovich Listopadov, the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of Serbia in Myanmar Gordana Jaksic, the Trade Representative of the Republic of Serbia Slobodan Shimik, embassy staff, as well as compatriots living in the country.

The day before, with the blessing of Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and South-East Asia, pastoral conversations with compatriots were held. Priest Anthony Skrynnikov held a conversation on the topic “What it means to be a Christian in the XXI century”, and Archpriest Vladimir Ostrozhinsky, cleric of the Stavropol diocese, met and held a conversation with primary school students of the embassy school.

On January 12, with the blessing of the Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia, Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and South-East Asia, Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin), Secretary of the Thai Diocese, accompanied by the cleric of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Hieromonk Micah (Phiaxayawong) and those working at the Diocese of Thailand, visited the Institute of Child Health in Bangkok, which is under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Queen Sirikit Kitiyakar.

On the feast of the Nativity of Christ, a collection of donations for the needs of sick children was organized in all the churches of the Thai diocese, during which it was possible to collect more than 100,000 Thai baht. With the assistance of the staff of the Institute of Children’s Health, the necessary clothes and food for children were purchased. In addition, financial assistance was transferred to parents of children under treatment. In total, charitable assistance was provided to 150 children aged from 3 months to 15 years. This is all the more relevant since during the week following the Nativity, Thailand celebrates The National Children’s Day.

The management of the medical institution allowed representatives of the Church to personally visit sick children and distribute charitable assistance. Archimandrite Oleg also met with the medical staff, thanked the leadership of the Institute for their help in organizing the care of sick children, wished strength and success to the doctors in their difficult ministry, and expressed the hope that the cooperation between the Thai diocesan administration will be as fruitful as in the pre-Covid period.

On the night of 6 to 7 January, on the feast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the premises of the Russian House in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the festive Divine Liturgy was served. The night before, on January 6, the faithful prayed at the All-Night Vigil. The service was also attended by the Russian Ambassador to Laos Vladimir Kalinin and his wife.

The statutory services of the feast were performed by priest Dimitry Lavrentiev, cleric of the Church of the Dormition of Most Holy Theotokos in Singapore.

After the Liturgy, those present gathered at the festive meal, carefully prepared in advance by the efforts of the believers themselves.