On May 5, 2022, the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who was in Hungary with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, visited Szentendre town, where he met with the head of the local diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop Lukijan of Budim.
At the entrance to the Cathedral of the Dormition, Metropolitan Hilarion was welcomed by Bishop Lukijan and representatives of the Diocese of Budim clergy. They celebrated a thanksgiving in Serbian and exclaimed statuary Many Years.
Welcoming the guest from the Russian Orthodox Church, Bishop Lukijan noted in particular, ‘Whenever you, Your Eminence, come to visit us, we feel the grace and blessing of Sts Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov and all the saints who shone forth in the Russian land. Therefore, we rejoice at our every meeting with you. You are known throughout the world as a peacemaker, for you have fulfilled God’s commandment: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt. 5:9). Therefore, we pray to the Lord that your every step on this path may be blessed. And we always say, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord’ (Lk. 13:35). And more, ‘The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace’ (Ps. 28:11).
In his response, Metropolitan Hilarion stressed in particular, ‘Today is a special day for the Serbian Orthodox Church. Today His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije has granted Tomos of Autocephaly to the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church thus overcoming the schism that had lasted within the Serbian Orthodox Church for many decades. We share the joy of the plenitude of the Serbian Orthodox Church and congratulate His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije and all the archpastors, pastors, monastics and the laity who are in Serbia, in North Macedonia, as well as in the diaspora, on this significant event – the restoration of unity and the granting of autocephaly by the Mother Church – the Serbian Orthodox Church to her daughter-Church’.
After the divine service, a repast took place at the parish house. It was joined by the clergy of the Diocese of Budim of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Diocese of Budapest-Hungary, Rev. Svyatoslav Bulakh.
On the same day, Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Catholic Abbey of Tihany to meet with Abbot Richard Korzenski, who had headed the monastery in the period from 1994 to 2018.
