On July 21st, the Day of the Kazan Godmother, the grand opening in the Church of St. Catherine, of a memorial plaque dedicated to the 220th anniversary of Orthodoxy in the American continent. This unique bronze bas-relief tells the story of the establishment of Orthodoxy in Alaska and includes the portraits of the Empress Catherine, the merchant Shelikhov, Images of Valaam monks and an Alaska map.
The Metropolitan Tikhon, head of the Orthodox church for all America and Canada , officiated the liturgy of the blessing of the plaque dedicated to the establishment of Orthodoxy in the United States. Tikhon was the first American metropolite to visit Russia.
