Metropolitan Alexander met with a representative of the leadership of the international charitable foundation “Kirche in Not”

February 15, 2024. Alma-Ata. In the fireplace hall of the spiritual, cultural and administrative center of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), a meeting was held between Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan with the head of the Department for Relations with Eastern Europe of the International Charitable Foundation “Kirche in Not” (“Helping the Church in Trouble”) P.V. Gumenyuk.

The meeting was attended by: vicars of the Astana diocese - the manager of the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov, the head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; expert of the Order of Malta in Germany F. Durnd, representative of the Order of Malta in Russia D. Borovicini, secretary of the Almaty Catholic Diocese priest Carlos Laos Zamarro, cleric of the Almaty Catholic Diocese Eduardo Cortina Andrada.

During the meeting, issues of interaction between the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and the “Kirche in Not” foundation were discussed.

Metropolitan Alexander thanked the leaders of the organization for the assistance provided to the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District in carrying out educational and outreach activities.

The main topic of communication was the discussion of the possibility of bringing to Kazakhstan a copy of the world-famous Christian relic - the Shroud of Turin. As part of the bringing of the great shrine, it is planned to hold exhibitions on the territory of the dioceses of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

During the meeting, a working group was created, which included representatives of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, the Catholic Church of Kazakhstan, the head of the Department for Relations with Eastern Europe of the International Charitable Foundation “Kirche in Not” (“Helping the Church in Need”) P.V. Gumenyuk and experts of the Sovereign Order of Malta. Those gathered worked out the details of the visit to the shrine and considered a number of organizational issues.

Metropolitan Alexander presented the guests with a book-album “Ascension Cathedral”, telling about the spiritual and cultural pearl of Semirechye - the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty, the history of its construction and full-scale scientific restoration, which the head of state K.-Zh.K. Tokayev called it “the second birth of a pan-Kazakh shrine.”

The meeting took place in a warm atmosphere.