WASHINGTON, DC: January 4, 2012
His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Celebrates His First Liturgy at St John the Baptist Cathedral in the Nation's Capital

On Sunday, January 1, 2012, the Sunday of the Holy Ancestors of Christ, His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, celebrated Divine Liturgy at St John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC. In his sermon before the veneration of the cross, Metropolitan Jonah and Protopriest Victor Potapov, the Cathedral Rector, noted the great significance of the celebration of this Liturgy by a Primate of the Orthodox Church in America in the Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. 

"This service in our temple bears witness to the fruits brought by the reestablishment of unity within the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place in 2007," said Fr Victor. Metropolitan Jonah, in his sermon, also noted that the Orthodox Church is one: "There may be separate administrations and hierarchs, but the Church is mystically united." 

Several days before this celebration, at a ceremony at the Russian Embassy, Fr Victor was awarded a diploma by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in recognition of his efforts in strengthening Russian culture abroad. 

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Photo: Sergei Moskalev.