The head of the Metropolitan District presented the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese Tomasz Peta with the Order of “Beibitshilik pen Kelisim” (Peace and Concord)

January 15, 2024. At the invitation of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Metropolitan Archbishop Tomasz Bernard Peta, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan visited the curia (diocesan administration) at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the capital of Kazakhstan.

The meeting of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan with the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic capital diocese was attended by: the dean of the parishes of Astana, Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), the vicar of the Archdiocese of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bishop Athanasius Schneider and staff of the curia.

Metropolitan Archbishop Tomasz congratulated Metropolitan Alexander on the Nativity of Christ.

After exchanging greetings, the Metropolitan told his interlocutor about the planned events in the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District in the coming year, marked by a historically significant anniversary - the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese.

The head of the Metropolitan District informed Metropolitan Archbishop Tomasz that on January 17, celebrations with the participation of the Kazakh episcopate will be held in Almaty, dedicated to the heavenly patrons of the southern capital, the holy martyrs of Nikolo-Kuchugur - presbyters Alexander Skalsky, Stefan Ponomarev and Philip Grigoriev.

During the conversation, the parties exchanged views on the state of inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue in Kazakhstan, expressing mutual satisfaction with the situation and assessing the prospects for its development as positive.

Separately, the implementation of joint projects to protect traditional spiritual values and establish in society such sacred concepts as a strong family, raising children, the indissolubility of marriage, and the value of human life from conception to death was discussed.

For the development of relations between the Kazakh Metropolitan District and the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan awarded Metropolitan Archbishop Tomasz Bernard Peta with the Order of “Beibitshilik pen Kelisim” (Peace and Concord). The hierarch was awarded a special sign of church attention for his outstanding contribution to the establishment of interfaith peace and interethnic harmony.

Metropolitan Alexander presented Metropolitan Archbishop Tomasz the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the calendar of the Metropolitan District for 2024 as a prayerful memory.

The meeting took place in a warm atmosphere.