Beijing, May 13, 2013
Russian Ambassador to Beijing Andrey Denisov believes that the visit to China by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will open up new opportunities for the local Orthodox community.
"It [the visit] will certainly help enhance the positions of Orthodoxy in the sections of Chinese society who follow this Christian faith with full respect and in strict compliance with the laws of China," Denisov told journalists after Patriarch Kirill's meeting with head of the China State Administration for Religious Affairs Wang Zuoan in Beijing.
It is necessary to respect the Chinese authorities' readiness to create a comfortable environment for quite a large number of Russian-speaking Orthodox worshippers who live in China, including students, business people and Russians who work in China, the ambassador said.
"The conditions allowing these people to satisfy their spiritual thirst are in place, and the Chinese authorities have been making all the appropriate efforts. The attitude to them is generally good, although a great deal can still be done to make this process easier. And we hope that it will certainly happen," Denisov said.
The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church has come to China to "create an appropriate atmosphere" in order to be able to discuss day-to-day problems facing Orthodox Christians, he said.