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Russian Patriarch Kirill starts first visit to Brazil

The Russian Orthodox Church head will meet with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia and Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta in Rio de Janeiro

PUNTA ARENAS, February 19. /TASS/. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on Friday will arrive in Brazil’s capital Brasilia, where he starts his three-day trip across the country.

The Russian Orthodox Church head will meet with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia and Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta in Rio de Janeiro.

Patriarch Kirill will hold a service by the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro.

The Patriarch will hold a liturgy in San Paulo and visit the largest Orthodox cathedral in South America on February 21.

Metropolitan Ilarion, the head of the external relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate, said the visit is dedicated to 70th anniversary of the Argentinian and South American episcopate of Russia’s Orthodox Church.

The patriarch has visited Cuba, Paraguay and Antarctica and had a historical meeting with Pope Francis in Havana.