On February 20, 2022, His Beatitude Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine Theophilus III received the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, at the Jerusalem Patriarchate, the DECR website reports.

The DECR Chairman conveyed to the Primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church the heartfelt congratulations of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the occasion of the upcoming 70th birthday and presented him with a congratulatory message, as well as presented a set of panagias.

Metropolitan Hilarion thanked His Beatitude for the opportunity to serve in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

During the conversation, which took place in a warm and trusting atmosphere, various issues of mutual interest were touched upon. In particular, the position of Christians in the Holy Land and in the Middle East in general was discussed.