Patriarch of Moscow presided over Assembly of Abbots and Abbesses

On 23 September 2026, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow presided over the proceedings of the Assembly of Abbots and Abbesses of the Monasteries of the Russian Church.

Before the opening of the meeting, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the lower Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

The Divine Liturgy was concelebrated by Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism and Abbot of the Donskoy Stavropegic Monastery; Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, Chairman of the Commission on the Organization of Monastic Life and Monasticism of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church; Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia; Bishop Meletius of Ardatov and Atyashevo; Bishop Theognost of Shigry and Manturovo; Bishop Isaac of Kasimov and Sasovo; together with monastery abbots and clergy of Moscow.

The participants in the Assembly prayed at the Divine Liturgy and, following the conclusion of the service, proceeded to the Hall of Church Councils.

Taking their places on the…