On Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th of June, Deacon Andrei Psarev, Associate Professor of Canon Law and Russian Church History at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, participated in two sessions of the Inter-Council Assembly held in Moscow. An Inter-Council Assembly was founded in 2009 to develop position papers on a wide range of topics from the participation of the faithful in the Eucharist to the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception.
On Tuesday, June 18, Fr. Andrei took part in the work of the Commission on Theology & Theological Education, which was held in the Church Institute of Graduate & Postgraduate Studies, chaired by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.
On Wednesday, June 19, Fr. Andrei took part in the work of the Commission on Church Law, chaired by Archbishop Mark of Berlin & Germany at Moscow’s Sretensky Monastery. The members discussed a revised version of the document "The Blessing of Orthodox Christians for Military Service." Commission members reiterated their recommendation to abandon the practice of sanctifying non-personal military weapons, including weapons of mass destruction.
On Sunday, June 23, Fr. Andrei gave a presentation at the parish in Brusov Lane of the church named after the Re-consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem: "The History of the Russian Church Abroad in Portraits of its Faithful Servants." The clergy and numerous parishioners warmly received this talk offered by a renowned speaker.
Then on Thursday, June 27, Fr. Andrei arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to complete research on Canon 15 of the First-Second Council of Constantinople (861) that he began in 2009. In the letter from the university of May 2, 2019, Deacon Andrei was informed that his name was published as qualified for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. At the ceremony on Friday, June 28, Deacon Andrei was the last of the cohort of graduates associated with the Institute of Byzantine Studies, which was closed in 2009.