Russian Orthodox Church official receives ambassador

Moscow, Nov. 3 (BNA): The Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations receives Bahraini Ambassador to Russian Federation Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Saati. The Russian Orthodox Church hailed Bahrain’s signing of the Abraham Accords Declaration which stipulates the enhancement of dialogue between religions and cultures to promote the culture of peace between the three Abrahamic religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Hilarion stressed that the recent events over the world, represented by the increase in acts of violence, terrorism, extremism, and hatred in the name of religions, require the urgent meeting of religious leaders in the world to put an end to them and work to stop clashes between the followers of these religions. He also commended the initiatives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in organizing conferences for dialogue among religions and civilizations over the past years, as well as the establishment of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, which has put a good effort in the rapprochement between peoples and followers of different religions. The Metropolitan of Volokolamsk also affirmed the Russian Orthodox Church's readiness to participate in any meeting organized by the Kingdom in this context. Metropolitan Hilarion also welcomed Bahrain’s policy of freedom of religious practices and the provision of places of worship for various religions, expressing his appreciation for the care accorded to Orthodox Christians in the Kingdom from the patronage of HM the King.