On July 29, 2011, the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion gave members of the editorial board of the publication "Orthodoxy in China," a high church award, which Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, honored them.
The Order of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow was awarded to the Vice-Chairman of the Federation Council of Federal Assembly of Russian Federation for Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Property, L.L. Lebedev, who provided financial support for the publication. Patriarchal charters were granted to the executive director of the Russian-Chinese Business Council, A.V. Kalashnik, doctor of historical sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, A.V. Lomanov and employee of DECR D.I. Petrovsky.
After the award ceremony, the DECR chairman expressed his personal gratitude to work on the creation of the book and expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation. For their part members of the board congratulated Metropolitan Hilarion on his 45th birthday, and expressed readiness for further cooperation. During the brief conversation they discussed issues such as interaction of the direction of the Chinese within the framework of the Department for External Church Relations.
The book "Orthodoxy in China" is a scientific publication in the Russian and Chinese languages with rich illustrative material, which describes the birth and development of Orthodox culture in China. It was prepared for publication and is published with the blessing of Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokamsk by the staff of the DECR, Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian-Chinese Business Council.
"Russia and China - countries with a rich spiritual tradition. At present, our countries surely go through the development of strategic partnership. Important tool on this road is the knowledge of our shared history, including the history of Orthodoxy in China, "- Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in his address to the readers of the book.
The release of album is timed to the 325th anniversary of Orthodoxy in China. This memorable date was marked by the resumption of services in a number of Orthodox churches in Beijing, Harbin, Shanghai, which was the result of years of effort to find new forms of cooperation from the Russian Orthodox Church, the cause of normalizing the situation of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church, and to increase cooperation with the religious, social, academic and government circles of the People's Republic of China. "Orthodoxy was the beginning of dialogue and mutual knowledge of Russian and Chinese civilizations, became the spiritual and moral core of the development of relations between the two countries, one of the reliable links connecting the peoples of Russia and China", - said M. Titarenko, chairman of the editorial board and chairman of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Association.
The publication is divided into eight chapters and covers the entire period of the presence of Orthodoxy in China from 1685 to the present. Circulation has been produced with the support of the "Gruppa-SINTEZ" and donated to the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate.
The first copy of the book was given to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who over the past decades, pays great attention to the issue of normalization of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church. The publication was praised by the Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has closely acquainted himself with the album and sent copies of the book to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister V. Putin as his personal gifts.
Copies of the book were also presented to President Hu Jintao, Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Chinese part of the Russian-Chinese Committee on Humanitarian Cooperation of the State Council member Ms Liu Yandong, director of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs Wang Zuo'an, co-chairman of the Sino-Russian Friendship Association Chen Haosu and other Chinese officials.
Books are also sent to the Russian Embassy in China and the Russian Consulate General in Shenyang, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong for donation to libraries and centers of scientific and social life of China.