Mintimer Shaimiev meets Metropolitan of Kazan and Tatarstan Feofan

On September 30, during their meeting at the Kazan Kremlin Tatarstan State Counsellor Mintimer Shaimiev and Metropolitan of Kazan and Tatarstan Feofan discussed many topics, including the revival of the ancient city of Bolgar and island-town of Sviyazhsk.

Before the meeting, the Metropolitan reminded that he had visited Kazan more than 10 years before, as a Russian Public Chamber member, while 50 years before he had been here to take the military oath.

Tatarstan State Counsellor greeted the priest on the Orthodox Christian feast of saint martyrs Vera, Nadezhda and Lubov (faith, hope and love), as well as their mother Sofia.

Speaking to the press, Feofan said that his conversation with Shaimiev left the most favourable impression on him.

“We turned out to be people of the same era. Many things that happened in our country were not just familiar to us – we were to some extent part of those events. I left him in a festive mood. He is a man of worldly wisdom. He said he had at all times served not just one people but a multiethnic region,” the hierarch said.

The revival of the ancient city of Bolgar and island town of Sviyazhsk was also discussed, he went on to say. “The restoration has been proficient,” Metropolitan Feofan noted.

Speaking about plans for the future, the metropolitan said they discussed the revival of Kazan Religious Academy and establishment of the Islamic Academy in Bolgar.

“The Kazan Religious Academy was not just regional: in many aspects it was more reputable than the Moscow and Saint-Petersburg academies. Reviving the academy is an honour for Kazan, an opportunity to reaffirm we live in a multi-confessional and multiethnic region,” he said.