The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church began its first session in 2018, at the St. Daniel monastery in Moscow. It was chaired by His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
Opening the session, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church greeted the permanent and temporal members of the Holy Synod.
Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova participated in the session as permanent member of the Holy Synod, along with Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine; Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna; Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, head of the Metropolitanate in the Republic of Kazakhstan; Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Metropolitanate of Central Asia; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus; Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations.
Summoned for the summer session (March-August) are Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and the Crimea; Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsk; Archbishop Matfey of Anadyr and Chukotka; Bishop Alexander of Daugavpils and Rezekne; and Bishop Nestor of Korsun.
with reference to the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church