Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeev

Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate 

Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeev is a distinguished figure in Russian Orthodox Church. He is one of the most educated clerics and also highly experienced in negotiating with other Orthodox churches. In his position as the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, he has the most frequent connections with the Georgian Orthodox Church from the Patriarchate of Russia. He periodically visits Georgia and also hosts clerics arriving for visits from Georgia. Metropolitan Ilarion, together with Georgian clerics, also discusses the religious situation in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region and makes occasional statements about these issues, within the confines of his competencies.

General Biographical Information 

• Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Ilarion, in civilian life Grigori Alfeev, was born on July 24, 1966 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR.
• From 1973 to 1984, he studied violin and composing class at Moscow Musical School.
• In 1984, after graduating from the school, he enrolled at Moscow State Conservatoire.
• From 1984 to 1986, he served in the armed forces of Soviet Union.
• In 1989, he graduated from Moscow Theological Seminary without attendance. In 1991, he also graduated from Moscow Theological Academy with the title of a candidate of theology. In 1993, he got a post graduate degree at the Academy. From 1991 to 1993, he was teaching at theological schools.
• In 1993, he completed internship at the University of Oxford. He worked on the doctoral dissertation with the supervision of the representative of Constantinople Patriarchate. In 1995, he graduated from the University of Oxford with a PhD in Philosophy.
• From 1995 to 1997, he used to teach in various theological seminaries. In 1996, he had a dogmatic theology course at Alaska Theological Seminary (USA). From 1997 to 1999, he taught at the University of Cambridge in New York and UK.
• He has obtained PhDs and honorary PhDs from various Russian and foreign universities, as well as being an honorary professor in many of them. He is also a member of the Union of Russian Composers.
• He has published over 700 papers on religious issues and authored several musical compositions.

Clerical Career

• From the age of 15, he led an active religious life in Moscow. In 1983, he worked as a freelancer at the publishing division of Moscow Patriarchate.
• In 1987, he stopped his studies at the Conservatoire and became a novice at the Vilensky Monastery. In the same year, he became a monk at the Monastery and a priest afterwards.
• From 1988 to 1990, he served at various churches.
• From 1995, he worked at the Division of External Church Connections of Moscow Patriarchate, and from 1997 to 2002 he led the Secretariat for Relations between Christian Denominations.
• From 1996 to 2004, he was a member of the Synod Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• In 2000, he became a Hegumen.
• In 2001, he was ordained as the Bishop of Kerch.
• In 2002, he was first ordained as Archimandrite and later as a Bishop. From 2002, he was appointed as the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Representations in European International Organizations. In 2003, he was appointed as the Bishop of Vienna and Austria.
• On March 31, 2009, he was appointed to the position of the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as becoming a permanent member of the Holy Synod, with the title of Bishop of Volokolamsk. In the same year, he became the Rector of the Joint Church Post Graduate and PhD Studies.
• In 2009, he became an Archbishop and in 2010, was ordained as a Metropolitan.
• On June 7, 2022, by a decision of the Synod of the Russian Church, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeev, the Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Church, was released from his post and was appointed as the Governor of the Budapest-Hungarian Diocese under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Relations with Georgian Orthodox Church

• On April 20, 2010, Metropolitan Ilarion met with the representatives of Caucasian Orthodox youth at Danilova Monastery. The meeting was organized by the Metropolitan’s Division. At the meeting, he stated that “the issue of the ownership of Abkhazian and South Ossetian Orthodox Eparchies can be decided through negotiations, after their return within the canonical church “.
• On June 1, 2011, Metropolitan Ilarion sent a letter of condolences to the Acting de facto President of Abkhazia, Aleksandr Ankvab, on the passing of the de facto President Sergey Baghpash.
• On June 29, 2011, Metropolitan Ilarion hosted the representatives of the non-canonical churches of Abkhazia, Archimandrite Dorofei Dbar and Priest Anderi Ampar. They were invited after they addressed the Patriarch of Russia with a request to be listened and a just decision to be made about taking away their clerical status. The issue of confrontation between Abkhazian Orthodox religious groups was also discussed at the meeting.
• On January 13, 2013, Metropolitan Ilarion arrived in Tbilisi to participate in the events dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the enthronization of the Patriarch of Georgia and the 80th anniversary from his birth. Metropolitan of Borjomi and Bakuriani, Serafime, also participated in the meeting between the Russian Metropolitan and Patriarch.
• On March 28, 2013, a meeting was held in Sochi, in which Metropolitan Ilarion, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aleksandr Ankvab, and Metropolitan of Borjomi and Bakuriani, Serafime, participated. They discussed the conditions of the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia and its prospects. During the meeting, Ankvab underlined that the connections of Abkhazian clerics and Orthodox Christians to the Georgian Orthodox Church have long been lost and cannot be restored. In his own right, the Metropolitan said that “the solution to the problem can only be found through strict execution of the church laws”.
• In February 2016, in his interview with the Russian media, on one of the questions about why the Russian Orthodox Church does not accept the Orthodox Christians of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region, Metropolitan Ilarion responded that “this is because there is a principle according to which the alteration of political borders should not cause immediate changes to religious borders as well”.
• On November 1, 2017, Metropolitan Ilarion paid a one-day visit to Tbilisi. In terms of the visit, he met with the Patriarch of Georgia. According to the statement of the Georgian Patriarchate, “the purpose of the Metropolitan’s visit was to invite the Patriarch and the delegation of the Georgian Church to an event on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the title of Patriarch of Russia. Metropolitan Ilarion stated that the leaders of all Orthodox Churches and other honorary guests are also invited.” According to the Patriarchate, during the meeting they also discussed the conflict between various clerical groupings in Abkhazia and the ways of its resolution. It was pointed out at the meeting that there are a lot of religious problems on the territory of Abkhazia and they need to be resolved jointly. At the meeting, they also discussed the creation of a special working group on the issue of Abkhazia.
• On March 20, 2018, Metropolitan Illarion hosted the Bishop of Nikortsminda, Vakhtang, at the Foreign Affairs Division of Moscow Patriarchate. Bishop Vakhtang presented Archpriest Kakhaber Gogotishvili, who will serve Georgian parish in Moscow, to the Metropolitan.
• On June 4, 2018, Metropolitan Ilarion visited the Patriarchate of Georgia to discuss the issues regarding the Ukrainian Church. According to the statement of the Patriarchate “Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeev, has visited the Patirarchate, together with two accompanying persons. The aim of the visit is to present the position of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding recent developments with regard to the Ukrainian Church”. Metropolitan was accompanied by a Russian cleric, Archpriest Vladimir Aleksandrov, who will be serving the Russian parish in Nevsky Cathedral.
• On December 10, 2018, five days before the unification council of the Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Ilarion paid one-day working visit to the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Metropolitan donated to the Georgian Orthodox Church relics of Venerable Confessor Tamari. During the visit, the Metropolitan met with the Patriarch of Georgia, church hierarchs and other clergy. The meeting participants discussed the importance of the relics and the challenges that the Orthodox world faces. The main topic of the meeting was probably the issue of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
• In an interview with the Russian media in February 2019, Metropolitan Ilarion spoke about the threats the Georgian Orthodox Church will face if recognizes the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church. The Metropolitan said it would be an "irrational decision", stressed the importance of the Georgian Church for the Moscow Patriarchate, and noted that he hopes the Georgian Church will not make such a decision.