Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II dies

|
|
 
  
Published: Dec. 5, 2008 at 10:44 AM

MOSCOW, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Patriarch Alexy II, who led a revival of the Russian Orthodox church after the fall of Communism, died Friday in Moscow, the church announced. He was 79.

The church did not reveal the cause of death, although Alexy II, who died at home, had a history of heart problems, The New York Times reported.

The Holy Synod, the church's ruling body, is expected to meet in an emergency session Saturday, RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency, reported.

Alexy II was named patriarch in 1990, just before the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Times reported. He deepened the role of the church in everyday life, erecting and renovating cathedrals, introducing Orthodox education in public schools and becoming a prominent voice on moral issues.

The patriarch also lobbied the government to adopt restrictions on other Christian denominations to hinder their efforts to attract followers in Russia.

Relations between Alexy II and the Roman Catholic Church were tense during the patriarch's tenure over the issue of proselytizing. Because of this fissure, he would not agree to a visit to Russia by Pope John Paul II.

Topics: Patriarch Alexy II
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Five arrested in prostitution sting. Article lists their names, ages and distance from a church
Photoshop this power tower technician
Driving drunk and unlicensed, with a kid not even buckled let alone in a safety seat, en route to...
Man killed in Spencer fire. The lava lamps must have ignited the blacklight posters
Passenger jet crashes into apartment building in Nigerian capitol. Over 150 princes, bank officials,...
I'll see your zombie apocalypse, and raise you "swarms of deadly spiders" invading a town in India...