On Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the invitation of the local Autocephalous Church, His All-Holiness visited the Czech Lands and Slovakia to attend celebrations for the 1150th anniversary since the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the region.

Accompanying the Ecumenical Patriarch were Metropolitans Yurij of Winnipeg and Canada and Chrysostomos of Myra, as well as the Grand Archdeacon Maximos Vgenopoulos, Archimandrite Amvrosios Chorozides, Mr. Nicholas Manginas, and Mr. Symeon Frantzelas.

During the three-day visit, the President of the Slovak Republic, Ivan Gašparovič, awarded His All-Holiness with the Order of the White Double Cross, the highest state decoration, in recognition of his global efforts for religious understanding, citing the long-standing relationship between Slovakia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the centuries, while also observing that the then Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Photius the Great, sent the two missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the region at the request of Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia.

photos by Nikos Manginas