OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2008. Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs/State Secretary Grigory Karasin Meets with First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York.

State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin met with First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York at the Ministry on December 10.

The sides paid tribute to the memory of the deceased Holy Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and noted his outstanding role in the unification of the ROC and ROCOR.

Considerable attention was paid to questions of the support of compatriots abroad and interaction between the MFA of Russia and the Russian Church in this sector.