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Archbishop Justinian Visits the Russian Center

Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of Patriarchal Parishes in the USA visited the Congress of Russian Americans on August 1, 2011 and met with its President, Natalie Sabelnik. She acquainted him about the organization, its history and the goals of the Congress, the primary one still being that of conveying the correct perception of historical Russia, its policies, culture, and traditions. She also told him about the Congress' current programs such as: aid to needy and sick children and orphanages in Russia, support for the "Village Churches" project, and the program for work with the Russian-American youth, one of which is the encouragement for those who study Russian language and Russian literature.

Archbishop Justinian also was given a tour of the Russian Center, founded in 1939, and visited the Museum of Russian Culture, one of the independent archives of the Russian Immigration, founded in 1948 with a mission of preserving personal documents and archives of Russian refugees and immigrants. The Head Archivist, Master of Historical Science, Margarita Meniailenko showed His Eminence and his entourage Museum samples collected from 27 countries.

In the afternoon Archbishop Justinian visited the Editorial Office of "Russian Life" newspaper, the oldest Russian national newspaper and met with the staff. There he learned, among other things, that the paper was founded in 1921 and that its editor was Albion Mayevsky, translator of Jack London Works and that among the contributors were eminent Russian expatriate journalists Prof. Retr Gintz and publicist Apollon Sologub. Editor Zoya Gradova told the visitors about the evolution of the Russian newspaper and the present-day creative plans for it. She invited His Eminence to the upcoming celebrations of the 90th Anniversary of "Russian Life" this year - a lecture to take place September 24 and a gala Ball on November 19, 2011.