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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

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The Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God was brought to Russia on September 12 for believers to worship before. It will remain in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour until Wednesday; afterwards it will be transported to Kursk. It will be available to believers in Kursk until October 2.

Prime Minister Putin kissed the icon and approached representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). He greeted them and said that some of them personally contributed to the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church and ROCOR. "This was the right decision, and your current visit is testimony to this. I wanted to welcome you as guests, but then I understood that to do so would be improper because you are at home here," said the Prime Minister.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, who is the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, thanked Prime Minister Putin for "assisting in bringing the icon to Russia."

Afterwards, the Prime Minister drank tea with Metropolitan Hilarion and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The former presented the Prime Minister with a replica of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God as a sign of his gratitude for Putin's assistance. "We would like to present you with this replica of the icon, and we wish that the Holy Virgin will always be your protector and will help you in all of your undertaking for the benefit of Russia," said the Metropolitan while presenting the icon to Prime Minister Putin.