Patriarch +Kirill asks Irish President for equal status to the Roman Catholic Church

Moscow, September 10, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the meeting with President of Ireland Mary McAlleese discussed the question of changing status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ireland and registering it as a Church, not a charitable organization.

"His Holiness the Patriarch talked to the President and raised the issue of giving the Russian Orthodox Church a registration in some respect similar to the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. It's a very important task," head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations communication service Fr. Georgy Zavershinsky told an Interfax-Religion correspondent commenting results of the meeting.

Fr. Georgy explained that parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in many Western European countries are registered as charitable communities alongside with other religious or even sectarian communities. Today the Russian Church has such kind of registration in Ireland and in Great Britain.

The President offered to conduct bilateral consultations for discussing this topic at the level of ministries or if needed prime ministers.

"It is an important moment, as far as I know there are few such precedents in Western countries," Fr. Georgy stressed.

Today the Russian Orthodox Church has five parishes and about 1500 parishioners in Ireland.

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