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Moscow mourns Orthodox patriarch; interim leader chosen
Tuesday, 09 December 2008 11:08
Moscow - cwnews.com - 20081209 - Russia's political leaders joined prelates of the Orthodox Church on December 9 at the funeral of Patriarch Alexei II. The deceased Patriarch's success in restoring the prominence of the Russian Orthodox Church after decades of Soviet repression was confirmed by the presence of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at his funeral in Christ the Savior cathedral. Medvedev had ordered regular television programming suspended during the funeral and the burial service at Epiphany cathedral.
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the chief ecumenical official of the Moscow patriarchate, presided at the funeral. On December 6 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church had elected Metropolitan Kirill as the "patriarchal locum tenens," or interim head of the Church following the death of Patriarch Alexei II the previous day. At least six months must pass between the death of a patriarch and the election of his successor. Since 1989, Metropolitan Kirill has served as the Russian Orthodox representative in ecumenical dialogues as chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. He recently wrote a foreword to a book by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Russians bid farewell to Patriarch at grand funeral (Reuters)
- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Buried in Moscow (Voice of America)
- Memorial Service Held for Russian Orthodox Patriarch (New York Times)
- Metropolitan Kirill elected interim head of Russian Church (Interfax)
- Metropolitan Kirill chosen patriarchal locum tenens (Moscow patriarchate)
- With Patriarch’s death, Russian Orthodox and the ecumenical cause are at a crossroads
- Cardinal Bertone writes book on globalization (CWN, Nov. 19)
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Wisdom from the Church Fathers
| We see the water of a river flowing uninterruptedly and passing away, and all that floats on its surface, rubbish or beams of trees, all pass by. Christian! So does our life. . . I was an infant, and that time has gone. I was an adolescent, and that too has passed. I was a young man, and that too is far behind me. The strong and mature man that I was is no more. My hair turns white, I succumb to age, but that too passes; I approach the end and will go the way of all flesh. I was born in order to die. I die that I may live. Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom! St. Tikhon of Voronezh |