Russian religious leaders arrive in Sochi

Russian Patriarch Kirill arrived in Sochi yesterday and will view Olympic facilities and serve prayers for Belarusian, Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian athletes today, Kirill’s spokesman Deacon Alexander Volkov said, ITAR-TASS reports.The service will take place at the Church of the Acheiropaeic Image of Christ the Saviour in Sochi. Kirill will meet volunteers of the Russian Orthodox Church to help the construction.The Patriarch will conclude the visit on February 5. Inter-religious prayer centers will open in the Pribrezhnaya, Gornaya and Dopolnitelnaya Olympic Villages.Arch-Priest Vsevolod Chaplin, Head of the Section for Relations of the Church and the Public at the Moscow Patriarchy, Arch-Priest Nikolai Sokolov, Head of St. Nikolas in Tolmachy (Moscow), Arch-Priest Nikolai Khlynin, Cleric of the Yekaterinodarskya Eparchy, priest Roman Bogdasarov, Deputy Head of the Section for Relations of the Church and the Public, have had prayers and blessed prayer rooms.The priests visited the headquarters of the Russian Olympic team, bowed to the image of Saint George that has been carried together with Russian athletes since 2004.Christians, Muslims, Judaists, Buddhists and Hindus have their own rooms for praying.

Russian Patriarch Kirill arrived in Sochi yesterday and will view Olympic facilities and serve prayers for Belarusian, Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian athletes today, Kirill’s spokesman Deacon Alexander Volkov said, ITAR-TASS reports.

The service will take place at the Church of the Acheiropaeic Image of Christ the Saviour in Sochi. Kirill will meet volunteers of the Russian Orthodox Church to help the construction.

The Patriarch will conclude the visit on February 5. Inter-religious prayer centers will open in the Pribrezhnaya, Gornaya and Dopolnitelnaya Olympic Villages.Arch-Priest Vsevolod Chaplin, Head of the Section for Relations of the Church and the Public at the Moscow Patriarchy, Arch-Priest Nikolai Sokolov, Head of St. Nikolas in Tolmachy (Moscow), Arch-Priest Nikolai Khlynin, Cleric of the Yekaterinodarskya Eparchy, priest Roman Bogdasarov, Deputy Head of the Section for Relations of the Church and the Public, have had prayers and blessed prayer rooms.

The priests visited the headquarters of the Russian Olympic team, bowed to the image of Saint George that has been carried together with Russian athletes since 2004.

Christians, Muslims, Judaists, Buddhists and Hindus have their own rooms for praying.