DUSHANBE, April 5, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- On Wednesday April 4, Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev received Bishop Vikentiy, Metropolitan of Tashkent and Central Asia at his request, Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, said.

According to him, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev congratulated Bishop Vikentiy on his election as Metropolitan of Tashkent and Central Asia and expressed confidence that members of the Orthodox Church in Dushanbe would make contribution to development of Tajikistan in the future as well.

Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov also attended the meeting, the spokesman said.

According to some media sources, Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) establishes Central Asian metropolitan district last year.  The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church reportedly decided to the Central Asian Metropolitan District, which unites Bishkek, Dushanbe and Tashkent dioceses, as well as the Patriarchal deanery of the ROC parishes in Turkmenistan on July 27, 2011.  The District was created to coordinate the religious education, publishing, social, educational and missionary activities of dioceses located in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Bishop Vikentiy, who had previously held the position of Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotursk, was elected the Metropolitan of Tashkent and Central Asia.