Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk meets with Hierarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church

On October 1, 2025, at the invitation of Archbishop Nicodemus DaoudSharaf of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, visited the Cathedral of the Most Holy Mother of God of the Syriac Orthodox Diocese in Erbil.

During the meeting, Archbishop Nicodemus spoke about the situation of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Iraq. Metropolitan Anthony recalled his meetings with His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch and All the East, as well as the Patriarch’s visit to Russia in November 2015. The sides discussed current issues of interchurch cooperation.

Also taking part in the meeting were clergy of the Mosul Diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church; Chorbishop Samano Odisho, Representative of the Assyrian Church of the East in Russia; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations; and Priest Nikolai Vasin, Secretary to the DECR Chairman.

DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru