News Release Concerning the Official Visit of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, to Russia on 16-18 May, 2007

From May 16 to May 18, 2007, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, paid an official visit to Russia at the invitation of the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church to participate in the festive ceremony of the signing of the Agreement on Canonical Union of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. In his letter of invitation, the Head of the Office of External Church Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, especially remarked that “the participation of Your Imperial Highness in this important event in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church will serve as proof of the rebirth of ancient Russian traditions, and of the unity of our people, which was for so long divided by the revolution and civil war.”

On 16 May 2007, the Grand Duchess arrived in Moscow from Madrid. From Domodedovo Airport, Her Imperial Highness went directly to the hotel Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate, where she stayed during her visit in Russia.

In the evening, the Head of the Russia Imperial House attended services at the church of the Holy St. Olga Equal-to-the-Apostles at the Pilgrimage Center. His Grace, Bishop Mark of Egorievsk, greeted the Grand Duchess at the church and presented her with an icon of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow. Afterwards, there was a reception in honor of Her Imperial Highness held by the clergy of the church at the Pilgrimage Center, at which were present representatives of the official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad: His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion of Sidney and Australia and New Zealand; Bishop Mark of Egorievsk, deputy to the head of the Office of External Church Affairs; Protopriest Mikhail Protopopov, a priest of the dioceses of Australia and New Zealand; Fr. Igor Vyzhanov, the rector of the Church of St. Olga; Ambassador A. A. Rannikh, the Russian representative to the Collective Security Treaty Organization; Ia. N. Shchapov, Head of the Imperial Orthodox Organization in Palestine and Correspondent-Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, along with his wife; and the Chairmen of the Russian Nobility Association, of the group “For Faith and Fatherland,” and of several other organizations.

On 17 May 2007, on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the Head of the Russian Imperial House attended the ceremony of the signing of the Agreement on Canonical Union and attended Divine Liturgy in Christ the Savior Cathedral. His Holiness, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all Russia, himself gave communion to the Grand Duchess. After the Divine Liturgy, Her Imperial Highness took part in the opening of an exhibit “The Russian Orthodox Church in the 20-th and 21-st Centuries,” and attended a celebratory reception for the signing of the Agreement on Canonical Union with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the first concelebration of the Liturgy by the now united Russian Church. In her address after the meal held after the Liturgy [trapeza], the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna expressed her feelings of profound joy for this long-awaited union of the two parts of the Russian Church, a union for which her August Father and Grandfather had so long and tirelessly worked. Her Imperial Highness exchanged greetings and had conversations with His Holiness, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all Russia; with His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad; with His Eminence Archbishop Arsenii of Istrin; and with other bishops and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church; with L. K. Sliskaia, the First Deputy to the Chair of the State Duma of the Russian Federation; with G. S. Poltavchenko, Representative of the President of Russia for the Central Federal District; with Mayor Iu. M. Luzhkov of Moscow; and with other officials and representatives of religious and social organizations. There were warm and familial greetings and conversation between the Head of the Russian Imperial House and Prince G. A. Yurievsky, a descendant of Emperor Alexander II Tsar-Liberator and his second, morganatic wife, Princess E. M. Dolgorukova.

In the evening, there was a dinner given in honor of the Head of the Russian Imperial House by the Knights’ Council of the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

On 18 May 2007, Her Imperial Highness visited the Center for Folk Arts in Izmailovo, later received reports from members of Her Imperial Highness’s Chancellery and then issued new and additional instructions to its members. On that same day, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, departed for Madrid. 

A.N. Zakatov
Director, Chancellery of Her Imperial Highness