Milan, September 14, 2015
The exhibition, “The mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the present-day world”, opened at 15:00 on September 14, 2015, at the Russian exhibition hall as part of the “EXPO-2015” (EXPO Milano) global exposition in Milan (Italy).
The exhibition includes quotations from the “Foundations of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church”, illustrated by works of modern photo artists. In this document the Russian Church gives a clear answer on the challenges of our time, according to the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the Holy Fathers.
The exhibition has been organized by the St. Gregory the Theologian Charitable Foundation with the participation of the Conoscere Eurasia Association (“Get to Know Eurasia”), the Rostech state corporation, the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the “Sophia: Russian idea – the idea of Europe” international society, with the support of the Kariplo Fund, The “Intesa” bank as well as the “Gasprom” public corporation. The exposition’s media partners are the Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) agency, the Russia Beyond the Headlines newspaper, the Rossiya-Kultura TV channel, and the Kommersant publishing house.
Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR) Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department of Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Milan Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church Deacon Roberto Pagani, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Milan Alexander Nurizade, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banca Intesa Professor Antonio Fallico were to take part in the opening of the exhibition.
On the same day at 21:00 in the Basilica Sant’Ambrogio in Milan a concert of the Moscow Synodal Choir directed by honored artist of Russia Alexei Puzakov was to be held within the framework of the exhibition.
Works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rakhmaninov, Dmitry Bortnyansky, Alexei Lvov, Georgy Sviridov, Pavel Chesnokov and Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) were to be performed at the concert.
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The EXPO global exhibition is held in various countries worldwide. The first such exhibition was organized in 1851 on the initiative of Prince Albert in Hyde Park (London). The previous EXPO was held in 2012 in Yosu, South Korea. Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, will host The “EXPO-2017”. The EXPO exhibition is the largest international venue for demonstration of technologies, innovations, discoveries, achievements in industry and culture. The message of the international exhibitions changed in the course of their history. Now they pay particular attention to the important issues of humanity.
“EXPO-2015” will be held in Milan for half a year: from May 1 till October 31. Its core theme, “Feeding the planet, energy for life”, addresses the problem of finding a balance between nutrition of the human being and respect for our planet.
On September 1, 2015, representatives of eleven religions gathered at the Expo center in order to discuss the issues of the world production and consumption of food. At the end of the forum the Milan Charter was signed and the food that had been brought from all the corners of the world was blessed. This event is meant for stressing the significance of the questions of coexistence of tolerance and dialogue between religions. The meeting, organized by EXPONET, the official journal of the EXPO Milano 2015, was timed to coincide with a World Day of Prayer for the Care of the God’s Creation. Earlier an interfaith meeting at the “Expo” of Milan took place in the city’s Biodiversity Park on May 21, 2015, and was dedicated to the debates on the ethics of the attitude to food and the environmental protection. 145 countries are taking part in “EXPO-2015”. The exhibition hall of the Holy See is dedicated to the theme, “Not by bread alone”.
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The Moscow Synodal Choir was established in Moscow in 1721. Originally the choir consisted only of ordained men. Later, as the polyphonic singing became wide-spread in Russia, children’s voices appeared (altos and trebles). The present Moscow Synodal Choir was revived in spring 2009 on the basis of the choir of the Church in honor of the “Consolation of All Who Sorrow” Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshaya Ordynka Street in Moscow, where the traditions of the Moscow school of Church singing were kept from 1948 under the direction of choir conductor Nikolai Matveyev. At the present time there are eighty choristers in the team. In addition to participation in solemn Church services, the Moscow Synodal Choir performs concerts in Moscow, Russia and abroad.
