Monastic Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Arrives in Egypt on a Pilgrimage

On May 11, 2025, a delegation of monastics from the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Egypt, headed by Metropolitan Mitrophan of Horlivka and Sloviansk. The visit is taking place with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ and at the invitation of His Holiness Patriarch Tawadros II of the Coptic Church. The event was reported on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The main purpose of the trip is a pilgrimage to the holy sites of early Christianity associated with the origins and development of monastic life, as well as familiarization with the current life of Coptic men’s and women’s monasteries.

This visit is seen as another stage in the development of dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church and is part of an ongoing program of mutual pilgrimages carried out in recent years.

At Cairo Airport, the delegation was received by representatives of the Coptic Church. Their first stop on Egyptian soil was the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great in the Nitrian Desert — one of the oldest centers of Christian monasticism.

During the visit, which will continue until May 19, the delegation is scheduled to visit other holy sites in the Nitrian Desert, the Lavras of Saints Anthony the Great and Paul of Thebes in the Eastern Desert near the Red Sea, monasteries around Alexandria, and Christian shrines in Cairo.

It should be noted that on May 8, 2025, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Bishop Dimitrios of Safita, a vicar of the Akkar Metropolis of the Antiochian Patriarchate, visited the Donetsk Diocese.