January 27, 2012
Washington, DC: A Meeting was held between Archbishop Justinian, Representatives of the Eastern American Diocese, and the Russian Ambassador

On Thursday, January 26, a meeting was held at the Russian Federation Embassy in Washington, DC, between the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, His Eminence Justinian, Archbishop of Naro-Fominsk, and Sergey I. Kislyak, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the United States. Also taking part in the meeting were the dean of the Southern Deanery and member of the Diocesan Council Archpriest Victor Potapov and Eastern American Diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge Lukianov.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the upcoming celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the Reunification and the joint pastoral conference between clergy of the Eastern American Diocese and Moscow Patriarchate, which will be held in New York from June 7-9, 2012. Archbishop Justinian extended an invitation to His Excellency on behalf of the First Hierarch of ROCOR, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, to participate in the upcoming conference. Sergey Ivanovich gladly accepted the invitation.

Funding for the celebration was also discussed, and the Ambassador promised to utilize every resource available to help raise funds from several benevolent organizations and private individuals. "Our goal is to make this conference as affordable as possible for all of our clergymen," said Fr. Serge. "The Ambassador understands how difficult it is for clergy and parishes to raise the funds necessary to attend this conference. Although the Russian government cannot allocate funds to religious institutions, we hope that they can bring attention to the needs of Russian clergy and faithful living in America."

Additional fundraising efforts are currently underway, and a local organizing committee is being assembled, which will hold its first meeting next week. The exact locations of the conference are still being determined, but the dates have already been set:

Wednesday, June 6th:
General Diocesan Meeting for clergy and delegates of the Eastern American Diocese.

Thursday the 7th and Friday the 8th of June:
Joint Pastoral Conference with EAD and MP clergy.

The All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy will be served on Friday evening, June 8, and the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, June 9 (locations still to be determined).

Republication of materials must include a reference to: 
"Eastern American Diocese www.eadiocese.org."

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese