Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, 79, Dies in Moscow

December 6, 2008

Author: Megan K. Stack

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-alexei6-2008dec06,0,2456000.story

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, the iconic religious leader who restored the church from a post-Soviet shell to an institution of privilege and power, died at his Moscow home Friday. He was 79.

The imposing, white-bearded Alexei had reigned in the Russian Orthodox Church's top seat for the last 18 years, an era that witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rebirth of Russia as a powerful, centralized state under the steely leadership of Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin.

Alexei was celebrated for healing a painful rift with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a splinter faction established by White Guard Russians who fled the Soviet Union for the West. The Russian patriarch signed a pact with Metropolitan Laurus last year, putting an end to the bitter, 80-year schism.