The Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church held a series of meetings with hierarchs of the Church of Cyprus

On July 22, 2026, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, concluded his visit to Cyprus, which took place with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. During the trip, the hierarch held a series of meetings with representatives of the Cypriot Orthodox Church to discuss issues of interchurch relations, as reported by the Orthodoxia News Agency .

As part of the final stage of his visit, Bishop Anthony visited the Metropolis of Morphou, where he was warmly received by Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou at his residence in the village of Evrihu. The program also included a visit to the Kykkos Monastery’s representative office in Nicosia, where a fraternal conversation took place with Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tillyria.

Concluding his working visit, the head of the Department for External Church Relations met with Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol. Together with him, Metropolitan Anthony visited the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos. During the talks, the parties discussed current issues concerning the present state and prospects for the development of relations between the Local Orthodox Churches.

It should be recalled that earlier, Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov) , had spoken about whether the Russian Orthodox Church was ready to begin a dialogue with the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the aim of overcoming the division within global Orthodoxy. He confirmed that the cause of the interchurch conflict was the Phanar’s recognition of the Ukrainian schism without consulting the Russian Orthodox Church, while assuring that the Russian Church had responded to the situation in accordance with Orthodox canons.