On December 20, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA & Canada, arrived in San Francisco.

His Grace visited St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in San Francisco, where he was met by cathedral dean, Priest Mikhail Kozyrev and Matushka Alla, as well as those accompanying the bishop on the trip, Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes Abbot Nikodim (Balyasnikov), Vice-Chancellor Priest Mark Rashkov, and Personal Secretary of the Bishop, Nikolai Trubnikov.

The archpastor venerated the church's relics and sang the glorification to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Father Mikhail briefed Vladyka in detail on the progress of the restoration and repair work that was carried out under his leadership from 2021 to 2024. Bishop Matthew expressed heartfelt gratitude to Father Mikhail for the work he had done, which had significantly transformed the external and internal appearance of the church.

During the archpastoral visit, there are planned interaction between the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America, the Russian Church Abroad, to celebrate the Sunday Divine Liturgy in St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral and communicate with the clergy and parishioners, hold a moleben at the holy relics of St. John of Shanghai, and also lead a remote session of the Bishop’s Council.