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In what Rome could consider an early good omen following yesterday's death of Patriarch Alexei II, earlier today the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church elected its point-man to the Vatican as the Moscow patriarchate's temporary administrator. Holder of the church's external-affairs portfolio, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kalingrad will serve as locum tenens -- literally, "placeholder" -- for no more than six months, the point when the church's statutes dictate the election of a new patriarch must proceed. A former representative of the patriarchate to the World Council of Churches, the 62 year-old hierarch (right, with B16)...

A few days ago the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, died. I was hoping to read an extended story about his life, as is customary when someone of note passes, in the papers I have been reading for many years. I was only able to find a brief seven line column announcing his death, and even in that brief announcement the paper made sure to insert an implied negative connotation such as “making the (Russian) church a force for nationalism”. The European press has been more respectful and given Patriarch Alexy II his due. He was described...

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who presided over a vast post-Soviet revival of faith but struggled against the influence of other churches, died Friday at age 79 Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who presided over a vast post-Soviet revival of faith but was criticized for bullying other denominations and making the church a force for nationalism, died Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, at age 79. The Moscow Patriarchate said he died at his residence outside Moscow, but did not give a cause of death. Alexy had long suffered from a heart ailment.

Patriarch Alexy II Vatican City, Dec 5, 2008 / 11:03 am (CNA).- The Russian Orthodox Church is in mourning today as it copes with the loss of Patriarch Alexy II, who passed away early Friday morning at his residence in Moscow. Pope Benedict has expressed his grief at hearing the news, saying he was “profoundly saddened” to hear of his passing. The official cause of the 79 year-old Patriarch’s death has not been announced, but he has been suffering from a heart condition for some time.Upon learning of the death of the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Pope...

"I am shocked. It is hard to find words. I had immense respect for him". These are the grieving words attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev in a multitude of news reports now streaming out of Russia concerning the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the beloved head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Reportedly interested in the claims of the Christian faith in the last few years, the last President of the Soviet Union and champion of the “Glasnost” strategy which helped consign that former world power to the history books expressed the sentiments of the entire Russian people. Under the leadership of...

We have learned with profound sadness of the death of His Holiness Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Patriarch Alexis was called to guide the Russian Orthodox Church in a period of great change, and his leadership has enabled that Church to face the challenges of transition from the Soviet era to the present with renewed interior vitality. He was instrumental in fostering the enormous growth of dioceses, parishes, monasteries and educational institutions which have given new life to a Church sorely tested for so long. I recall my many meetings with His Holiness, who always made a...

The patriarch died on Friday morning, aged 79, the Church told the BBC.

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI sent a personal message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II saying that modern times call for a hastening of the journey toward Christian unity. The Sept. 22 message was hand-delivered to Alexy II by the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, on an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the patriarch. The cardinal gave the message to the patriarch in a meeting that lasted a little more than an hour last Thursday. "I have a deep affection for all the Orthodox brethren, and I am particularly close to them in...

Vatican City, May 30, 2008 / 10:09 am (CNA).- During his visit to Russia, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity met with Holiness Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow, and delivered a message from the Holy Father.  In his letter, Pope Benedict highlighted the similarities of the two Christian religions and expressed gratitude for the dialogue between the two churches.The Pope writes that Cardinal Kasper’s visit to Russia provides a timely opportunity for the Pontiff to extend his greetings to the Russian Orthodox Church, “to express my esteem for your ministry in the Russian Orthodox...

KAZAN, May 27 (Itar-Tass) - Vatican Cardinal Walter Casper begins an unofficial visit to Kazan on Tuesday. Alexander Pavlov, press secretary of the Kazan bishopric, has told Itar-Tass, "The high-ranking official of the Vatican has headed the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity for many years. The guests is to have a conversation on the subject during a meeting with Archbishop Anastasiy of Kazan and Tatarstan". The Vatican envoy is to tour the restored Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Monastery of the Mother of God. The monastery was founded in 1578 in honour...

VATICAN CITY, MAY 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Walter Kasper left for Moscow today to take a message from Benedict XVI to Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will be in Russia through May 30. The trip was undertaken at the invitation of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the president of the Department of External Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, reported the pontifical council. The program of the visit includes an inaugural celebration for the feast of Corpus Christi at the Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese...

Moscow, Oct. 03, 2006 (CNA) - A positive step was made this week in relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church during a meeting between Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, and Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The two churches’ positions on key contemporary issues coincide, and there are many avenues for cooperation, the patriarch said. According to a report by Interfax, Alexy II said he is "convinced that good relations and mutual support will contribute to the further development of cooperation on key modern issues between the Russian Orthodox Church and the...

MOSCOW (Interfax) – Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia hopes for considerable rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Church, noting the positive role being played by Pope Benedict XVI. ”The key of our relations has changed with the new pontificate,” the patriarch said. “In his first address Benedict XVI said that the improvement of relations with the Orthodox churches was a priority of his ministry,” Alexy II said in an interview with the Russian television station, Pervyi canal. He also expressed his hope for the problems that have complicated interchurch relations to be solved under the new...

MOSCOW, JULY 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church ruled in favor of continuing dialogue with the Vatican. The Ordinary Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, presided over by the Patriarch of Moscow, Alexy II, was held July 17-19 in the Monastery of the Trinity and St. Sergius According to reports of the Russian news agency Interfax, the key topic of the synod was dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, and in particular the common ground shared between the two Churches. "These problems were discussed personally in May," reported Interfax, in a meeting between Benedict XVI and the...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has told the pope he hopes for a "rapid resolution" of the 1,000-year-old problems that divide the Catholic and Orthodox churches, according to a letter released Friday by the Vatican.Patriarch Alexy II wrote to Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 22 to thank him for a letter he sent congratulating the patriarch on his birthday.In the letter, Benedict repeated his frequent call for the Catholic and Orthodox churches to work toward greater communion."Gestures and words of renewed fraternity between the pastors of the Lord's flock indicate a more intense collaboration...

06 February 2006, 11:35 Russian Orthodox youth expedition will ascend the highest mountain in North America Moscow, February 6, Interfax - Boys from a children’s home in Kostroma region led by their father-confessor are planning to ascend the highest peak of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America located in Alaska and celebrate divine liturgy there on Pentecost which the Orthodox will celebrate on June 11 this year. Archpriest Andrey Voronin, father confessor of the children’s home in the town of Nerekhta, Kostroma region, told Interfax that they were planning the expedition for the period from May 20 to...

Union of Orthodox Citizens appeals to Alexy II to break all relations with the Vatican and start missionary work in Europe and America Moscow, August 23, Interfax - As the Uniates have become more active in Ukraine the Orthodox public have appealed to Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia to end all relations with the Roman Catholic Church and begin missionary work in Europe and America. ‘It is necessary to accept in the fold of the Orthodox Church all the Old Catholic communities who wish to join it, to establish a Russian Orthodox school for training Latin-rite clergy for...

Alexy II on the need to borrow positive sides of the Soviet education system Moscow, August 15, Interfax - Russian society should not bury in oblivion the positive results of the Soviet education system, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia believes. ‘The Soviet education system made certain achievements, which seemed to confirm its methods as appropriate on the face of it. In that period the state developed very intensively, making remarkable achievements in industrial production, developing virgin lands, promoting science, creating space and military technology’, the patriarch stated at a meeting with youth last weekend in Kaluga. The...

Russian Patriarch Laments Anti-Christian Trends in Europe MOSCOW, JUNE 8, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II appealed to Catholics and Orthodox to address together the "negative anti-Christian tendencies" present in Europe. The patriarch made his plea Tuesday when meeting with Pier Ferdinando Casini, president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. In his exhortation, reported by Vatican Radio, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia presented one of the "crucial" challenges that Catholics and Orthodox must address together: to bring Christian values back to Europe. Alexy II criticized the "absurd tolerance" that in a secular Europe virtually "impedes Christian from...

MOSCOW, April 4. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - It seems the only place the pope wanted but could not visit was Moscow. His patience was boundless, but he did not live long enough to see changes in the Russian Orthodox Church. He, however, was open to the whole world, including Russians. It turned out that establishing contacts with the secular authorities of the new Russia was much easier than with the hierarchs of the Russian Church. The pontiff received Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, the latter of whom has sent the Vatican an unusual letter of condolences. More than...