During the afterfeast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, His Eminence Vikenty, Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, as a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, visited the Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk Metropolias.
On 6 December, the eve of the feast of the Great Martyr Catherine, the heavenly patroness of Yekaterinburg, Metropolitan Vikenty, concelebrating with Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye and other hierarchs, celebrated the All-Night Vigil at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yekaterinburg. The next day, 7 December, he led the festal Divine Liturgy there and a solemn moleben at the chapel of the Great Martyr Catherine in the city center.
That same evening Metropolitan Vikenty arrived in the Southern Urals, in the Chelyabinsk Metropolia, where he celebrated the evening service at the Church of the "It Is Truly Meet" Icon of the Mother of God in Miass, concelebrating with Metropolitan Alexy of Chelyabinsk and Miass. On 8 December, the leave-taking of the feast of the Entry, an assembly of archpastors of the Chelyabinsk Metropolia headed by Metropolitan Vikenty celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Trinity Church in Miass, and in the evening the bishops led the service at the Cathedral of St. Simeon.
On 9 December, after the Liturgy, Metropolitan Vikenty and Metropolitan Alexy visited a number of churches in Chelyabinsk, and in the evening the archpastors led the All-Night Vigil at the Theophany Monastery. On 10 December, the feast of the "Sign" Icon of the Mother of God, Metropolitans Vikenty and Alexy celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Hodegetria Convent in Chelyabinsk. Metropolitan Vikenty also met with journalists of the Granada-Press media holding, answering questions about the situation of Orthodox believers in Central Asia, interreligious contacts and church-state relations.
