The message reads, in part:
“The establishment of the Department for External Church Relations opened up new wide-ranging opportunities for the Russian Orthodox Church in fruitful peace-making and educational activities and ensured its successful cooperation with other local Orthodox churches, and representatives of other religions, state institutions and public organisations. And, of course, your large-scale and tireless work to strengthen spiritual and cultural ties with our compatriots living abroad deserves the most profound gratitude.
It is important that, today, the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate honourably carries on the traditions of responsible church service, is actively involved in implementing highly popular and socially important charitable initiatives and makes a weighty and serious contribution to expanding international humanitarian cooperation.”