Russian Patriarch to Meet with Top Officials in Beirut, Damascus

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill arrives in Beirut on Sunday accompanied by Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch and All The East for talks with top political and religious officials. The two patriarchs and their accompanying delegation are scheduled to visit the St. George Cathedral in Beirut to meet with Greek Orthodox Bishop Elias Awdeh. Interfax-Religion news agency said Friday that Kirill will also meet with President Michel Suleiman and senior clerics, including Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. Kirill will be visiting Syria ahead of coming to Beirut. "The patriarch is going to this region on a peacekeeping mission as well. He will most likely call for dialogue between all the sides in Syria's social life in order to restore political stability to this country," Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, Inter-Orthodox Relations, Priest Igor Yakimchuk told Interfax-Religion. The head of the Russian Orthodox church will also meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badreddine Hassoun and Minister of Awqaf Mohammed Abdul Sattar al-Sayyed.