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Patriarch Kirill to conduct a 3-hour divine service in Tokyo

After the liturgy the patriarch plans to visit the Yanaka cemetery in Tokyo where St. Nicholas of Japan equal to the Apostles is buried

TOKYO, September 16 (Itar-Tass) — Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill will conduct a three-hour divine service at Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-Do) in Tokyo on Sunday.

After the liturgy the patriarch plans to visit the Yanaka cemetery in Tokyo where St. Nicholas of Japan equal to the Apostles is buried. He was a Russian clergyman who founded the Orthodox Church in Japan. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church will hold a prayer and the lity for the dead on the graves of Japanese archbishops. Patriarch Kirill will visit a Russian Orthodox Church where he will also hold a prayer.

A presentation of two books written by the patriarch, “Freedom and Responsibility” in Japanese and “The Interminable Battle” with dialogues about St. Nicholas of Japan equal to the Apostles.

Patriarch Kirill is visiting Japan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Nikolai Kasatkin (Nicholas of Japan), a Russian missionary who founded the Japanese Orthodox Church. His wisdom and love for Japanese parishioners made the Japanese Emperor to recognize Orthodox Christianity and allow building Orthodox churches in Japan. St. Nicholas served Japan for 50 years. When he died, the emperor allocated a plot of land where St. Nicholas of Japan was interred.

On Saturday, the patriarch visited Sendai, which was worst hit by last year’s earthquake and tsunami. He conducted a funeral memorial service on the coast near a memorial built to commemorate the souls of those who died in the natural disaster.

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