Raul Attends Divine Liturgy Officiated by Patriarch Kirill

The Cuban President, Raul Castro attended today the divine liturgy officiated by his Holiness Kirill, patriarch of the Moscow Orthodox Church and all Russia, at the Cathedral Our Lady of Kazan, in this capital.

• Russian Patriarch Officiates Divine Liturgy in his Last Day in Cuba

At 09:00 local time will start the religious ceremony in the Byzantine style building opened on October 19, 2008, which represents the Church throughout the Caribbean.

The opening day of the temple, Kirill, then chairman of the Department of foreign Church affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, officiated the Divine Liturgy of consecration of the place where the first stone was placed four years earlier.

For this Sunday's ceremony will get together at the temple and its surroundings Orthodox faithful and from other denominations, as well as non-believers interested in hearing the message of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

After addressing the Cuban people and part of the Russian community based in the island, the Primate concluded the official visit which started last Thursday and will travel to South America, in the continuation of a tour that will also take him to Paraguay and Brazil.

During his four-day stay in the Caribbean nation Kirill carried out an extensive program that included the meeting held on Friday with Pope Francis, the first in history between the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic.

The Patriarch agenda also envisaged officials talks and exchange of presents with Raul Castro, who received him in his arrival to the island and attended the signature ceremony of the joint document with the Supreme Pontiff.

Primate's visit to the Greater Antilles also included a tribute to Soviet internationalist soldier in the Mausoleum erected on the outskirts of the capital, and another to the Cuban National Hero, José Martí (1853-1895), in the sculptural complex that honors him at the Revolution Square.