Russian Orthodox patriarch arrives in Holy Land

Επίσκεψη στο Πατριαρχείο Ιεροσολύμων, κατόπιν προσκλήσεως του Μακαριωτάτου Πατριάρχου Ιεροσολύμων κ. Θεοφίλου πραγματοποιεί από σήμερα 9 έως 14 Νοεμβρίου 2012 ο Πατριάρχης Μόσχας και Πασών των Ρωσιών κ. Κύριλλος.

(AFP) / 9 November 2012JERUSALEM — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill arrived in Jerusalem on Friday on his first visit to the Holy Land since becoming head of the powerful church in 2009, an AFP correspondent said.
As his motorcade arrived at the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, he was welcomed by leaders of the Greek Orthodox church, as well as members of the Coptic and Armenian churches.
Accompanied by heavy Russian and Israeli security, Kirill was led to the home of Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, who accompanied him inside.
Later, the two went to the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where hundreds of Russian pilgrims eagerly awaited the arrival of their patriarch.
During his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Kirill will be meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan in a new sign of his importance as a global religious figure.
His trip “is the most important (religious) visit (to Israel) since that of the Pope Benedict XVI” in 2009, Israel’s foreign ministry said.
Over the course of his six-day stay, Kirill, 65, is due to concelebrate the liturgy with Theophilos and meet other local Christian leaders.
In addition to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located on the site where most Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected, he will also visit other major Christian sites.
A dispute with an Israeli water company over unpaid bills has prompted the Greek Orthodox church, which is a joint custodian, to threaten to close it.
The company, Hagihon, has said it is owed 9 million shekels ($2.1 million) in unpaid bills, but the Greeks contend that the Holy Sepulchre was always treated as a special case and exempted from water fees.
The Greek patriarchate has been seeking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s help over the dispute with Hagihon.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some 1.2 million Russians — a quarter of them Christians — immigrated to Israel in the 1990s.
The Russian Orthodox Church has seen a huge upsurge in influence since the fall of the atheist Soviet Union, and its leaders take a strong stand on moral issues that the Kremlin hardly ever ignores.