His Holiness Patriarch Cyril met with the delegation of the Italian province of Trento

February 27, 2018 in the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow the meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with the delegation of the province of Trento (Italy) took place. The Italian delegation included the honorary Archbishop-Metropolitan Trento Monsignor Luigi Bressan, the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento Dr. Hugo Rossi, the Coordinator of the Nativity Show in Moscow Dr. Dino Leonezi, the President of the Friends of the Nativity Scene Association Walter Deflorian, the Advisor of the Province of Trento Piero Degodenz , Administrator of the Autonomous Province of Trento Dr. Maurizio Rossini, International Relations Manager of the Province of Trento Dr. Raffaele Farella, Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Province of Trento Dr. Moreno Tait, ME Predazzo Maria Bozin, Mayor of Fyave Angelo Dzambotti. From the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Deputy Chairman of the DECR, Archimandrite Filaret (Bulekov) , DECR Secretary for the Far Abroad, Archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations, Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), member of the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations, priest Alexy Dikarev took part in the meeting. Welcoming the guests from Italy, His Holiness the Patriarch mentioned that special memories bind him with Trento, since he participated in the theological interview of representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church held in this city in 1975. "This gave me an opportunity to get acquainted with the real church and even parish life of the Catholic Church and Diocese of Trento," His Holiness said. "Therefore, I cherish very kind memories in my heart, and I am very glad to welcome you with this feeling." The reason for the arrival of the delegation of the province of Trento in Moscow was the exhibition "Ambassadors of the World - the Trentino-Alto-Adige Denis" , which is represented in the Patriarchal Museum of Church Art in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior . Opening on January 5, 2018 in Moscow after a stay in several countries, the exposition allows you to get acquainted with the art of creating Christmas nativity scenes in Italy, which is their homeland. "I know that this exhibition is very famous, it has already visited Rome, Constantinople and the Holy Land, and is now represented in Moscow," His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said. - The exhibition opened on the eve of Christmas and attracted a lot of attention of Muscovites and not only residents of the capital. " The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church thanked the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Hugo Rossi, who initiated the exhibition in Russia. His Holiness noted with satisfaction that after the meeting with the Pope of Franconia in Havana in 2016, relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in the sphere of culture intensified. So, in late 2016 - early 2017, the Tretyakov Gallery hosted an exhibition of masterpieces of Italian painting from the Vatican Museums, which aroused great interest among the public. "The fact that we are now paying special attention to cultural ties in the context of the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is a very correct approach to the development of bilateral relations," His Holiness said. Another very important factor is the mutual pilgrimage and worship of shrines, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stated, noting in particular that as a result of the agreements that were reached in Havana, last year from the Italian city of Bari to Moscow and St. Petersburg were brought the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. "We bring shrines from the Holy Land, from Mount Athos and from other places, and always a lot of pilgrims come to Moscow to worship them. But what happened in connection with the bringing of the relics of St. Nicholas surpassed all that was before in connection with the worship of the brought shrines, "His Holiness Patriarch Kirill recalled. - For two months, the relics were worshiped by almost 2 million 300 thousand people. Another very interesting figure: at the beginning of bringing holy relics of St. Nicholas to Russia in the organization of worship helped by 2,000 young volunteers, and by the end of the stay of the shrine in our country there were already 14,000 volunteers. To worship the relics of the saint, people waited in the long queue for eight or ten and even sometimes twelve hours. Sometimes someone from the elderly said, they say, you can go faster, but people answered: "No, we need to stand up." In these queues there were also members of the government, outstanding representatives of culture and science, and ordinary people. " "I think it is also very important that on the agenda of our bilateral relations there are topics related to the value of the family, moral issues," the Holy Bishop further said. - You, of course, are better than me, you know what is happening today in the spiritual life of Western civilization: religious values ​​are trying to displace people from everyday life and instead offer so-called secular values. We went through this: in the Soviet Union, too, religious ideas were ousted, and ideological values ​​were offered instead. And we know that very many seduced them and abandoned their faith. But experience shows: ideology does not live more than four or five generations. The historical context is changing - ideology is going away. Nobody expected that after four generations, during which life atheism was the main ideology in the Soviet Union, a religious revival would begin. I think that all of us today need to work so that, on a planetary scale, the strong faith of people again comes to replace ideology. " His Holiness recalled that the peacekeeping activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church is a very important factor contributing to the reconciliation of people. "This peacekeeping potential of the Churches should, in my opinion, be actively used today, when the world has become so restless when we all are approaching the terrible prospect of a global conflict. And that is why, of course, the churches today must work very hard together for peace and justice, "Patriarch Kirill emphasized. Honorary Archbishop-Metropolitan Trento Monsignor Luigi Bressan, addressing Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, thanked him for the opportunity to meet with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and shared his joy at the revival of faith in Russian society, which was demonstrated, in particular, in the veneration of the relics St. Nicholas during their stay in Russia. Speaking about the dialogue held in Trento, mentioned by His Holiness Patriarch Cyril, Monsignor Luigi Bressan, in particular, noted: "Thanks to the meetings of 1975 we discovered the iconography, which was largely forgotten, now we have our own icon painters who write icons , and we are developing this art in contact with the Russian Orthodox Church. " The Honorable Archbishop-Metropolitan of Trento also stressed the importance of Christian values, the values ​​of the family, about the importance of which the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke during the meeting. "We pay great attention to this, because we believe that without the strengthening of the family we can not have a future," stressed Dr. Hugo Rossi, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento. Greeting His Holiness the Patriarch on behalf of all the inhabitants of the region, he said: "We were particularly touched by your memory of the visit to Trento in late 1975, when the friendship that has been going on so far began. As you could see during your visit, this is a small mountainous region, which is populated by a simple working people. Our province is an intermediary between the culture of the Mediterranean, southern culture and northern culture. " The President of the Province of Trento thanked the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for the blessing of holding an exhibition of Italian Christmas Nativity Scene at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. "I think that this exhibition has become a bright event, which emphasizes the importance of developing a dialogue between the two Churches, as well as between the peoples," says Dr. Hugo Rossi.