On March 2, 2024, on the memorial day of St. Leo, Bishop of Rome, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, governor of the Philippine-Vietnamese diocese, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the house church in honor of St Xenia of Petersburg in Hanoi, Vietnam. His Eminence was co-served by Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, and Priest Eugene Tsukalo, Dean of the Vietnamese Deanery. At the end of the service, Metropolitan Pavel addressed the audience: “Dear fathers, brothers and sisters, let me thank you all for your common prayers! Today I am very glad to share with you the joy of liturgical communion. It is not often possible to pray together, to perform the most important Great service together, when a person unites with God in His holy Mysteries. All are one in Christ, they partake of the one cup. Although it is rare, there is such an opportunity today, and I hope that it will be more and more often. Yesterday we met with representatives of the Committee on Religions, and our meetings were very comforting, since we can now legally register our communities. This is such a mercy of God, which has not existed until now, such an opportunity has appeared, and it exists, and I hope that with God’s help we will implement it in the next six months. It’s really a joy! Today I would like to remind all of us that we are now on the eve of Lent, and tomorrow is the Sunday of the Prodigal son. The Holy Church reminds us of repentance and forgiveness. And if we talk about the parable of the prodigal son, then here the son left his father, took his part of the estate, dissolved it in a prodigal life, and then he had to be left with nothing and return at least as hired workers to his father. The Lord shows in this parable that a person departs from the truth, from faith, from God, and when he realizes his sins, he returns back. And the second brother, the eldest, who was always with his father, he was offended that his father gave a feast to his brother, who dissolved the entire part of his estate. And here, too, what is the point? Learn to forgive. It would seem that my brother, as my father said, disappeared and was found, was lost and rebelled, and now to learn to forgive, to bear the fruits of repentance, this is the most important thing in our life. There is no person before God who would live on earth and not sin, but we do not always succeed in learning these saving things that the Lord came to earth and gave us, and the Holy Church prepares us for Lent. And these gospel parables remind us of the fall of man, of the return of awareness of our fall, and of course the forgiveness of our neighbors. Find the strength to forgive your brother, sister, and all those who have caused us pain or sorrow. And the Lord calls us to this, calls us all before the beginning of Lent, so that each of us thinks, realizes what he has done wrong in life and whether he is doing anything at all to save his soul. And we must bear the fruits of forgiveness, learn repentance, and realize our sins.Thank you all, my dear ones, for our common prayers, I hope that we will see each other more often and more confidently, let’s say legalized, we will work on this today, we will make every effort to make everything work out for us in this regard. And we hope for the mercy of God and, of course, our heavenly patrons. God bless you all, my dears!”

On March 1, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, Governor of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, met with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Vietnam, G.S. Bezdetko. The meeting was attended by: Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), dean of the Vietnamese deanery Priest Eugene Tsukalo, President of the Literary Foundation “The Road of Life” Dmitry Mizgulin. During the meeting, the parties discussed various issues of cooperation between the Russian diplomatic mission and the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese.

On March 1, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, the administrator of the Philippine—Vietnamese Diocese, met with the leadership of the Committee on Religious Affairs under the Government of the Republic of Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side, the meeting was attended by: Deputy Head of the Committee Nguyen Anh Tic, Head of the Department of Faiths and Other Religions Chan Thi Minh Thu, Deputy Head of the Personnel and International Relations Department of Ngo Thi Xuan Lan. The Russian Federation was represented by E.N. Bakeeva, Counselor-Envoy of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Vietnam, K.V. Lunev, Counselor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Vietnam, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, and Priest Evgeny Tsukalo, dean of the Vietnamese Deanery. Mr. Nguyen Anh Thik warmly thanked Bishop Pavel for the opportunity to take part in an important meeting, noting that in the Republic of Vietnam there is freedom of religion, 95% of citizens profess some kind of faith, they are allowed to pray and perform religious rites. Metropolitan Pavel spoke about the history and development of the Orthodox Church in Russia, focusing on the fact that there are many communities of Russian citizens in the Republic of Vietnam, mainly in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Vung Tau, who need spiritual care. The participants of the meeting discussed the issues of the registration process of Orthodox communities in accordance with the legislation of the Republic. They also discussed the construction of a temple in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

On February 28, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, the administrator of the Philippine—Vietnamese Diocese, held a parish meeting in the city of Nha Trang in the Republic of Vietnam. The faithful Russian citizens living in Nha Trang asked the bishop to open an Orthodox parish in the city. During the meeting, the Nha Trang parish was established in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, a parish council consisting of 15 people was elected, and members of the audit commission were also elected. At the end of the parish meeting, Bishop Pavel answered the questions of the parishioners.

On February 27, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, the administrator of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, performed the rite of minor consecration of the house church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vung Tau, Vietnam. His Eminence was co-served by Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Priest Eugene Tsukalo, dean of the Vietnamese Deanery, and Priest John Obrembalsky, cleric of the Balashikha Diocese. At the end of the service, Metropolitan Pavel gave the archpastoral blessing and delivered a sermon: “Dear fathers, brothers and sisters, let me express my gratitude for the common prayer. You and I have now performed a small consecration of our temple of the Queen of Heaven, our Patroness, the Intercessor of the Christian family, and asked Her for intercession and help so that She would not leave us, who are far from our Fatherland, would preserve our Fatherland, grant victory to our army and preserve all of us on our life-saving path. Every Christian, passing through the saving path, living his life, cannot live without temptations and without sin. But the Lord also gave us all the saving means so that every person would have the opportunity to get rid of sins, receive forgiveness, and connect with the Lord God. And today we thank the Lord for His immense mercy to us.The Lord gives us such mercy today that today we have this small temple, cozy, beautiful, where each of you, coming here, connects with God, talking in prayer and uniting in the sacraments. This is the mercy of God, and we thank the Lord for giving us his immense mercy and love. Thank you for your common prayers, for there is no greater glory than to glorify your Heavenly Creator together. May the All-merciful Lord, through the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, not leave this holy place, the abbot, the entire flock that comes here and unites with God. God bless you all!”

The Medal of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco for services to the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese was awarded to Svetlana Shcherbakova.

On February 13-15, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, the administrator of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese and a member of the Russian Academy of Engineering, Chairman of the Architectural and Construction Department of the Khanty-Mansiysk Metropolis, Priest Konstantin Memyachkin, visited a temple under construction in Kinabalan province on the island of Mindanao. The architecture of the temple has a pronounced outline of the basilica, the ancient architectural style of Christian churches. The temple is built on a reinforced concrete foundation slab and is a monolithic reinforced concrete frame with columns. The inter-column space is laid with hollow concrete blocks of local production. Construction technologies and materials are due to the special geographical location of the islands, logistical difficulties and a limited market for building materials. Nevertheless, the construction work is progressing successfully and is moving towards completion. In addition to Kinabalan, temples were visited in the cities of Lambayong, Lake Sebu, Polomolok and other settlements. A visual inspection of all the visited temple buildings was carried out and engineering decisions were made on their repair and reconstruction.

On a working trip to the island state of the Philippines, His Eminence was accompanied by the Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Archpriest Anthony Isakov, dean of the Surgut City Deanery, Archpriest Sergiy Shevchenko, dean of the Nizhnevartovsk city deanery, Priest Konstantin Memyachkin, Chairman of the architectural and construction department of the Khatna—Mansi Metropolia, Hierodeacon Nikodim Perkhovsky, a resident of the Dimitry Rostov Monastery Of the Khanty-Mansiysk Diocese, Director General of the UVIS IC, Vladimir Yurievich Bashkov. It should be noted that in 2023, in accordance with the decision of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Engineering, for his great contribution to church building in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra, the development of church building in earthquake-prone areas of the Philippine-Vietnamese diocese: Kinabalan, Davao and others, Metropolitan Pavel was awarded the Gold Medal of the Russian Engineering Academy.

On February 27, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, Administrator of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, held a working meeting with Oleg Petrovich Saraev, First Deputy General Director of Vietsovpetro Joint Venture in Vung Tau, Republic of Vietnam. Also present at the meeting were: Hieromonk Korniliy (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, and Priest Eugene Tsukalo, dean of the Vietnamese Deanery. During the working meeting, issues of cooperation between the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese and the Vietsovpetro enterprise were discussed.

Vietsovpetro is an oil company, a joint Russian-Vietnamese enterprise. The company’s headquarters are located in the city of Vung Tau. A significant Russian-speaking community of JV employees lives in this city. Vietsovpetro JV specialists have explored six fields on the shelf of the South China Sea: Dragon, Daihung, Wolf, Bawi, Baden and Tamdao. Two fields “White Tiger” and “Dragon” have been equipped, the first oil from the Daihung field has been extracted. Vietsovpetro Joint venture has created the most powerful base in Southeast Asia for the construction and installation of offshore platforms for drilling and production of oil and gas.

On February 27, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, the administrator of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, arrived in the Republic of Vietnam. At Ho Chi Minh City airport, Vladyka was met by the dean of the Vietnamese Deanery, Priest Yevgeny Tsukalo and Consul-Counselor of the Russian Embassy D.A.Repkov.

During the archpastoral visit of the head of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, meetings with the parishioners of Nha Trang and a prayer service in Vung Tau are planned. On March 2 and 3, Metropolitan Pavel will celebrate Divine Liturgies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Also in Hanoi, Bishop Pavel plans to meet with the Russian Ambassador to Vietnam and members of the Committee on Religious Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam. On a trip to the Republic of Vietnam, Metropolitan Pavel is accompanied by the Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Hieromonk Korniliy (Molev) and the president of the Literary Foundation “The Road of Life” Dmitry Mizgulin.

On February 26, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, Administrator of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of the Philippines M.I.Pavlov. The meeting was attended by: Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese Hieromonk Korniliy (Molev), General Director of LLC SK “YUVIS” Vladimir Bashkov, President of the Literary Fund “The Road of Life” Dmitry Mizgulin. During the meeting, the parties discussed various issues of cooperation between the Russian diplomatic Mission and the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese.

On February 26, 2024, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, governor of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, celebrated a prayer service in the church in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord in Siniloan, Laguna Province. His Eminence was co-served by: Hieromonk Alexei (Lapshin), Dean of the Manila District, and Archimandrite Philemon (Castro), rector of the temple. At the end of the service, Metropolitan Pavel addressed the audience: “Dear fathers, brothers and sisters, dear Father Philemon! We drove for a long time, but we got to this holy temple in order to meet with you here and share a short prayer to the Lord and His Life-Giving Cross! Prayer moves our lives, it heals us, prayer gives us the strength to continue serving God and our flock. The Lord says, “Pray that you may be healed, pray for one another.” I think that the Lord will give us more strength and time to serve the Divine Liturgy here, because the Liturgy is the most important service of our Church, because we all partake of the one cup of the Body and Blood of Christ, uniting in Christ. I hope that the Lord will give us such an opportunity and strength, to serve the Divine Liturgy and other services here. Let’s hope and ask that the Lord will not leave us in the future, and give us such an opportunity. I am glad to meet the parish today, with the flock that Father Philemon is caring for, realizing that today is a working day and not everyone had the opportunity to come and meet for our common prayer. I thank everyone who took the time to share the joy of common prayer, and you will convey the bow and blessing to our entire flock of our entire parish. May the Lord preserve us all by the power of the Holy Cross in health and longevity!”