Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute
22 Dec 07: Delegation visits Indonesia – 6-11 December 2007
From the 6th to 11th December 2007 His Grace Archbishop Hilarion of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand and His Grace Bishop Mark of Egorevsk headed a joint delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate) to Indonesia to visit our missions there.
The members of the delegation included:
From Australia:
- His Grace, Archbishop Hilarion, ruling bishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand, Deputy President of the Synod of Bishops; and
- Reader Alexander Paramonov, member of the Diocesan Youth Committee and Geelong Parish Secretary
From Russia:
- His Grace, Bishop Mark of Egoriev, vicar of the Moscow Diocese, Deputy Chairman of the the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate;
- Hieromonk Sofrony (Kitaev), Economos of the Belgorod Theological Seminary; and
- Dmitry Ivanovich Petrovsky, Secretary for Inter-Orthodox relations of the Belgorod and Starooskol’skaya diocese
The delegation was joined by Archimandrite Daniel (Byantoro Bambang) the head of the Indonesian Orthodox Mission and it was also the first time that the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church served together in Asia.
The purpose of the visit was to confirm support for the missions in several areas including the establishment of a clear canonical and administrative structure, the provision of support and resources and additional financial capacity and to ordain new clergy for the Indonesian Orthodox Mission.
6 December – Meeting with the Indonesian Minister of Religion and Visit to Embassy of the Russian Federation:
7 December – Visit and lunch at Saint Vladimir Church and Reading Lessons at Saint Thomas Church:
8 December, morning – Liturgy was celebrated in the home church dedicated to Saint Vladimir and included the ordination of deacon and a new Gold Cross being awarded to Fr. Iosaf. The Sermon was delivered in Russian by Bishop Mark, translated into English from Russian by Archbishop Hilarion and then translated from English into Indonesian by Archimandrite Daniel.
8 December, afternoon – A special meeting with a police escorted motorcade was arranged with Prof Dr M. Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations.
9 December, morning – Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Thomas in Jakarta with ordinations.
9 December, afternoon – Traveling to Solo and traditional Javanese greeting and entertainment in the church compound.
11 December – Divine Liturgy in Solo with the ordination of a Deacon.
