REPRESENTATION OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

The Representation was created on July 17, 2002 with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, «taking into account a widening dialogue of the Russian Church with european international organisations».

H.E. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the chairman of the Department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate has an overall authority upon all its activities. During seven years, between 2002 and 2009, from its very beginning he exercised a leadership position in Brussels’ Representation office. Since October 21, 2016 Archimandrit Philipp (Ryabykh) has been appointed as Interim  Church representative (locum tenens) to the European institutions.

Our office is located in a parish house of the Russian Holy Trinity church in Brussels. It was consecrated on March 30, 2003 by H.E. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, then chairman of the Department for external church relations, now H.H. Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.