Moscow, Russia—The secretary general of UPF-Eurasia was one of the special guests at the opening ceremony of an exhibition and book fair organized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The international Orthodox exhibition “From Repentance to Resurrection of Russia,” together with the interregional book fair “Joy of the Word,” was shown at Moscow’s Sokolniki Exhibition Center from March 26 to 31, 2015.
At the opening ceremony on March 26, Konstantin V. Krylov, secretary general of UPF-Eurasia, joined the other guests of honor— Father Macarius Komogorov, assistant chair of the Publishing Council, and Boris V. Ivanov, acting state advisor of the Russian Federation—in emphasizing the importance of the Orthodox project.
Father Andrei Stepanov, an official of the Russian Orthodox Church, began the opening ceremony with a prayer service on the theme, "At the Beginning of a Good Cause."
The head of Ural Exhibitions, Andrew Shvarnyov, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome of the fair and assistance in organizing the Orthodox project.
A holy water ceremony was performed, after which the honorary guests had an opportunity to view the exhibition and talk with the participants.
The exhibition presented a number of church icons, including Holy Mary "The Inexhaustible Cup"; St. Nicholas; Holy Mary "Joy of All Who Sorrow," and many others.
Among the exhibits were crafts, vestments, clothing made from environmentally friendly materials, health products, honey and related products, jams, Oriental sweets, vegetable oils, royal green and black olives, and olive oil from Greece.
As a part of the cultural program, there was a spiritual talk given by Archpriest Valerian Krechetov.