Bishop Kirill Arrives in Malaysia

On July 22, 2026, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, rector of the Academy, arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to take part in the fifth meeting of the working group coordinating bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

On arrival, Bishop Kirill was welcomed by Priest Ashwin Fernandes, executive director of the Malankara Church’s Department for External Church Relations, and Archimandrite Pavel (Khokhlov), rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Kuala Lumpur. Archimandrite Pavel greeted the bishop on behalf of Metropolitan Sergiy of Singapore and Southeast Asia, Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia.

That evening, Bishop Kirill met with the working group’s co-chair, Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos of the Northeast America Diocese, and Chorepiscopus Philip Thomas, rector of the Malankara Church’s Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kuala Lumpur.

The delegation also includes Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian relations of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Hieromonk Mark (Akhmatkhanov), an employee of the department’s secretariat for inter-Christian relations; and Hieromonk Iov (Urum), an aide to the rector.

MThA Press Office