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DECR chairman met with Mufti of Tatarstan

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On November 3, 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, who is on a visit to Tatarstan with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of President R. Minnikhanov of the Republic of Tatarstan, visited the Qolsharif Mosque in the Kazan Kremlin. It is the largest mosque in the European part of Russia. At its entrance, the DECR chairman was welcomed by the chairman of the Muslim Board for Tatarstan, Mufti Ildus Faizov. Metropolitan Hilarion was taken on a tour of the mosque and the Museum of the History of Islam in Tatarstan located in the crypt of the mosque.

After that Metropolitan Hilarion and Mufti Ildus Faizov, who was elected as Mufti of Tatarstan in April 2011, had a personal meeting. In his remarks Metropolitan Hilarion noted that the Muslim Board and the Diocese of Kazan and Tatarstan could become good co-workers in asserting traditional values. He gave a high value to the mufti’s efforts to oppose the attempts of extremists to violate interreligious peace in Tatarstan under the cover of religion.

They also discussed the development of interreligious dialogue. ‘Our friendship and cooperation is an appropriate response to the designs of those who are interested in fomenting interreligious strife’, the DECR chairman stressed. He also noted that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Muslim community in Russia have a great potential for cooperation, especially in common efforts to protect the values of family and traditional moral values.

DECR Communication Service

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DECR chairman met with Mufti of Tatarstan

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons