Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Israel Satybaldy Burshakov met with Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
The Kazakh diplomat thanked His Beatitude for his full support of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and for his regular participation in its event.
Warmly recalling his trips to Nur-Sultan to meet with religious leaders, Theophilus III highly appreciated the friendship, mutual understanding, tolerance and unity of the people of Kazakhstan. In this regard, the Patriarch of Jerusalem conveyed his best wishes to Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
His Beatitude expressed his sincere congratulations to the people of Kazakhstan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming bright holiday of Orthodox Easter. He informed about the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire scheduled for May 1 in Jerusalem, which is also handed over to the representative of the Embassy for further transfer to the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.
During the meeting, Satybaldy Burshakov handed the Patriarch an invitation from the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament – the Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Maulen Ashimbayev, to participate in the next meeting of the Secretariat.
The Kazakh diplomat told the head of the Jerusalem Patriarchate about the results of the XXIX session of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan held on April 28 in Nur-Sultan and the upcoming holiday of the Day of Unity of the People of Kazakhstan.
Theophilus III heads one of the oldest Orthodox churches and ranks fourth in seniority after the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch in the list of Orthodox leaders. His diocese includes Orthodox parishioners from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine.
The history of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem dates back about 2000 years, and its status and position in the territory of modern Israel are fixed by an agreement between Caliph Omar ibn Khattab and Patriarch Sophronius, dated 638.
According to available statistics, about 170 thousand Christians live in Israel.
