On 17th May 2026, the nineteenth anniversary of the signing of the ‘Act of Canonical Communion’, which in 2007 restored sacramental communion between the ROCOR and MP, a solemn service was held in Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Patriarchate’s Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
The Divine Liturgy was headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany (ROCOR), who was joined by the heads of the Ecclesiastical Missions in Jerusalem of both parts of the Russian Orthodox Church: Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeev) of the MP, and Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky) of the ROCOR, as well as clergy from the two missions. During the Great Entrance and the Eucharistic Canon, three Primates were commemorated together: His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine; His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Primate of the MP; and His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, Primate of the ROCOR.
During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, special prayers were lifted up for the heritage of historical Svyata Rus’, and thanksgiving for the restoration of communion between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church. Memorial petitions were also offered for the respose of Patriarch Alexy II and Metropolitan Laurus, both of blessed memory, and all the fathers, brothers, and sisters who laboured for the restoration of canonical unity within the Church.
Synodal Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations 