On Monday, 2 August 1999, at 20.20, the flight from Krasnoyarsk that carried His Eminence Vikenty, Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, landed at Koltsovo airport. At the stairway of the plane the bishop was met by Archpriest Vladimir Ziazev, rector of Nativity of Christ parish, Archpriest Nikolai Ladiuk, rector of Transfiguration of the Lord parish, and Hieromonk Dimitry Baibakov, rector of St Panteleimon the Healer parish. After blessing the clergy, the bishop was greeted by representatives of the government, including A. G. Kobernichenko, Vice Premier of Sverdlovsk oblast, and V. P. Smirnov, advisor to the governor.
A large number of journalists covered the arrival of the new archpastor, which indicated the great interest of the general public in their new archpastor. All five local television stations attended the arrival of the bishop and conducted an interview with His Eminence at the airport. In the room of official delegations the ruling bishop held his first meeting with representatives from the oblast authorities, which proceeded in an atmosphere of complete mutual understanding and readiness for fruitful cooperation.
At Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, despite the late hour, parishioners of the city’s churches and clergy who came from all over the diocese joyfully greeted the arriving bishop. Archpriest Ioann Osipovich, one of the oldest clergymen of the diocese and a member of the diocesan council, delivered an emotional greeting speech in the name of the clergy. Then, a molieben of thanksgiving was held. The bishop addressed the flock with his first archpastoral exhortation in the land of the Urals and he blessed the overflow crowd of worshippers in the cathedral church.
3 August 1999
Pravoslavnaya Gazeta (original source)
PDS Russia Religion News (quoted source)
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/9908a.html (in English)
