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Russian church figure asks Israeli president to return property |
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Published by Interfax News Agency (Russia)
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Tuesday, 30 October 2007 |
Russian church
figure asks Israeli president to return property
“Metropolitan
Kirill, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow
Patriarchate, told Israeli President Shimon Peres at a meeting that the Russian
Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem wants its former Jerusalem property
returned.
He
described as a positive step the fact that Russia and Israel plan to scrap visa
requirements for visitors of the two countries, the website of the Moscow
Patriarchate reports.
The
resulting sharp increase in the number of pilgrims is prompting the need to
increase the number of hotel rooms, he said. Some of the pilgrims, clergymen
and monks prefer to stay with the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem
instead of regular hotels, which underscores the need for the return of the
Mission's former property, which currently houses the magistrate court of
Jerusalem, the metropolitan said...”
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