Church publishes recent photo of Fidel
This photo of Fidel
Castro and Metropolitan Kirill
of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, made Oct. 20 in
Havana, was published Tuesday in the website of the Moscow
Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The following
is from the website's English-language page:
"Fidel Castro, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, has been awarded the Russian Orthodox Church Order Glory and Honour in recognition of his contribution to interreligious dialogue and on the occasion of the consecration of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana.
"According to Metropolitan Kirill, ‘the legendary Cuban leader was the one who determined the place where the church of Our Lady of Kazan has been built.’ [...]
"In a talk that lasted for over two hours, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations and the leader of the Cuban state discussed the past and present of Russian-Cuban relations, the role of religious factor in relations among nations and many other issues."
The Russian text adds that Castro "noted that the Russian Orthodox Church plays an enormous role in the contemporary life of Russia and helps the development of its bilateral relations with other countries.
In the opinion of Fidel Castro, [the Church] is a very
important religious factor, also in the development of the
dialogue between Russia and Cuba."
See my Nov. 1 blog item about the absence of photos from that meeting in the official Cuban press. A picture of Castro in mid-June appears here.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.
of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, made Oct. 20 in
Havana, was published Tuesday in the website of the Moscow
Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The following
is from the website's English-language page:"Fidel Castro, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, has been awarded the Russian Orthodox Church Order Glory and Honour in recognition of his contribution to interreligious dialogue and on the occasion of the consecration of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana.
"According to Metropolitan Kirill, ‘the legendary Cuban leader was the one who determined the place where the church of Our Lady of Kazan has been built.’ [...]
"In a talk that lasted for over two hours, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations and the leader of the Cuban state discussed the past and present of Russian-Cuban relations, the role of religious factor in relations among nations and many other issues."
The Russian text adds that Castro "noted that the Russian Orthodox Church plays an enormous role in the contemporary life of Russia and helps the development of its bilateral relations with other countries.
In the opinion of Fidel Castro, [the Church] is a very
important religious factor, also in the development of the
dialogue between Russia and Cuba."See my Nov. 1 blog item about the absence of photos from that meeting in the official Cuban press. A picture of Castro in mid-June appears here.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.
