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Patriarch Kirill flies to Antarctica to serve Divine Liturgy, meet with polar explorers

"This is a historic event in the life of the Russian Orthodoxy indicating that the Russian Orthodox Church administers worship on all continents," the patriarch’s spokesman has said

© EPA/Alejandro Ernesto

PUNTA ARENAS (Chile), February 17. /TASS/. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has flown from Punta Arenas to Antarctica where he will serve a Divine Liturgy at Russia’s Bellingshausen Antarctic station and meet with polar explorers.

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"The night before the patriarch arrived in Punta Arenas from Asuncion (Paraguay) to depart for Antarctica today at the invitation of Russian polar explorers. There he will serve the first Divine Liturgy in the only permanent cathedral in Antarctica - the Orthodox Holy Trinity Church at Russia’s Bellingshausen Station on Waterloo Island," the patriarch’s spokesman Father Alexander Volkov has said.

According to him, the church service will be attended by Russian polar explorers and invited members of expeditions of other countries, including Chile. After the Divine Liturgy, the patriarch will meet with polar explorers.

"This is a historic event in the life of the Russian Orthodoxy indicating that the Russian Orthodox Church administers worship on all continents. There, in this place the patriarch will pray for the entire world," Volkov said.

Members of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation who accompanied Patriarch Kirill during his primatial visit to Latin America have also departed for Antarctica.

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