Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow

Alexy II
Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'
Church Russian Orthodox Church
See Moscow
Installed 10 June 1990
Term ended 5 December 2008
Predecessor Pimen I
Successor Kirill I
Orders
Ordination 17 April 1950
Consecration 3 September 1961
by Nikodim of Leningrad
Personal details
Birth name Alexey Mikhailovich Ridiger
Born 23 February 1929
Tallinn, Estonia
Died 5 December 2008(2008-12-05) (aged 79)
Peredelkino, Moscow, Russia
Buried Epiphany Cathedral at Elokhovo
Spouse Vera Alekseeva (1950–1951)

Patriarch Alexy II (or Alexius II, Russian: Патриарх Алексий II; secular name Alexey Mikhailovich von Ridiger[1] Russian: Алексе́й Миха́йлович Ри́дигер; 23 February 1929 – 5 December 2008) was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Elected Patriarch of Moscow eighteen months prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, he became the first Russian Patriarch of the post-Soviet period.

Family history

Alexey Mikhailovich Ridiger's father Mikhail Ridiger (1902–1962), born in Saint Petersburg, was a descendant of a Baltic German family. His ancestor Captain Heinrich Nicolaus (Nils) Rüdinger, the commander of a Swedish fortification in Dünamünde, Swedish Livonia, was knighted by Charles XI of Sweden in 1695. After Swedish Estonia and Swedish Livonia became part of the Russian Empire in the aftermath of the Great Northern War in the beginning of the 18th century, another forefather of Alexy II, Friedrich Wilhelm von Rüdiger (1780–1840), adopted Orthodox Christianity during the reign of Catherine II of Russia. From the marriage with Darya Fyodorovna Yerzhemskaya[2] was born the future Patriarch's great-grandfather, Yegor (Georgi) von Rüdiger (1811–1848).[3]

After the Russian October Revolution in 1917, Alexey Ridiger's father Mikhail became a refugee and the family settled in Estonia, first in Haapsalu where a shelter was provided by priest Ralph von zur Mühlen.[4] Later Mikhail moved to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where he met and married in 1926 Yelena Iosifovna Pisareva (1902–1959),[3] who was born and later died there.[1]

Alexey Ridiger's father graduated from the theological seminary in Tallinn in 1940 and was ordained a deacon and later a priest and served as the rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Tallinn. Later, he was a member and the chairman of the Diocesan Council in Estonia.

Patrilineal family tree[3]

Heinrich Nicolaus (Nils) von Rüdinger
(?–1711)		 Peter von Rüdinger Karl Magnus von Rüdinger
(1753–1821)		 Friedrich (Fjodor) Wilhelm von Rüdiger
(1780–1840)		 Yegor (Georgi) von Rüdiger
(1811–1848)		 Aleksandr von Rüdiger
(1844–1877)		 Aleksandr von Rüdiger
(1870–1929)		 Mikhail von Ridiger
(1902–1962)		 Alexey Ridiger
(1929–2008)
Christine Elisabeth von Wickede
(1680–1721)		 Elisabeth Wiesner Charlotte Margarethe von Maltitz
(1758 – 1786)		 Darya Fjodorovna Jerzhembska Margarita Feodorovna Gamburger Yevgenia Germanovna Gizetti
(?-1905)		 Aglaida Yulyevna von Baltz
(1870–1956)		 Jelena Iossifovna Pissareva
(1902–1959)

Early life

Alexey Ridiger was born and spent his childhood in the Republic of Estonia that had become a Russian Orthodox spiritual center and a home to many Russian émigrés after the Russian October Revolution in 1917.[5]

From his early childhood Alexey Ridiger served in the Orthodox Church under the guidance of his spiritual father: Archpriest Ioann Bogoyavlensky.

Alexey Ridiger attended Tallinn's Russian Gymnasium.

After the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940 Alexey Ridiger's family was listed for arrest in order to be deported from Estonia according to the Serov Instructions but were not found by the NKVD because instead of staying in their home they were hiding in a nearby hovel.[6]

During Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany (1941–1944) Alexey Ridiger attended with his father Mikhail, who had become an Orthodox priest on 20 December 1942, the German prison camps in Estonia offering salvation to the Russian prisoners of war. Such activities were tolerated by the German occupation authorities because it was seen as an effective anti Soviet propaganda. After Soviet forces returned to Estonia in the autumn of 1944, unlike the most of the people with Baltic German roots, the Ridiger family chose to stay in Estonia and didn't evacuate to the west.[6]

During the war Joseph Stalin had revived the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union.[7] Having been closed during the war time, after the Soviet annexation of Estonia the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn was reopened in 1945. Alexey Ridiger who had become a Soviet citizen[8] served as an altar boy in the cathedral from May to October 1946. He was made a psalm-reader in St.Simeon's Church later that year; in 1947, he officiated in the same office in the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Tallinn.[1]

Career

Alexy, in the Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral, presents Vladimir Putin with an icon of Saint Alexander Nevsky at the latter's presidential inauguration on 7 May 2000.

He entered Leningrad Theological Seminary in 1947, and graduated in 1949. He then entered the Leningrad Theological Academy, and graduated in 1953.[9][10]

On 15 April 1950, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Gregory (Chukov) of Leningrad, and on 17 April 1950, he was ordained a priest and appointed rector of the Theophany church in city of Jõhvi, Estonia, in the Tallinn Diocese. On 15 July 1957, Fr. Alexiy was appointed Rector of the Cathedral of the Dormition in Tallinn and Dean of the Tartu district. He was elevated to the rank of Archpriest on 17 August 1958, and on 30 March 1959 he was appointed Dean of the united Tartu-Viljandi deanery of the Tallinn diocese. On 3 March 1961 he was tonsured a monk in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.[9]

His name (secular Алексей, clerical Алексий) was not changed when he became a monk, but his patron saint changed from Alexius of Rome to Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow whose relics repose in the Theophany Cathedral in Moscow.

On 14 August 1961, he was chosen to be the Orthodox Church Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia. On 23 June 1964, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop; and, on 25 February 1968, at the age of 39, metropolitan.[10]

In 1986 he was released from the post of the Chancellor, which he had held since 1961 and which allowed him to be based in the Moscow Patriarchy's headquarters, and transferred to Leningrad; the decision was effectively made by the Council for Religious Affairs and was later presented by Alexy as punishment for his letter in December 1985 to Mikhail Gorbachev with proposals of reforms to church-state relations. Shortly after Alexy's death, the then Chairman of the Council Kharchev strongly denied that and said the decision was aimed at "defusing the tense emotional atmosphere within Patriarch Pimen's inner circle".[11] In an earlier interview Kharchev suggested the removal had been requested by Patriarch Pimen "for a year".[12]

After the death of Patriarch Pimen in 1990 Alexiy was chosen to become the new Patriarch of The Russian Orthodox Church. He was chosen on Local Council on the basis of his administrative experience, and was considered "intelligent, energetic, hardworking, systematic, perceptive, and businesslike."[13] He also "had a reputation as a conciliator, a person who could find common ground with various groups in the episcopate."[14] Archbishop Chrysostom (Martishkin) remarked "With his peaceful and tolerant disposition Patriarch Aleksi will be able to unite us all."[15]

Patriarch Alexy II was "the first patriarch in Soviet history to be chosen without government pressure; candidates were nominated from the floor, and the election was conducted by secret ballot."[10]

Upon taking on the role of Patriarch, Patriarch Alexy became a vocal advocate of the rights of the church, calling for the Soviet government to allow religious education in the state schools and for a "freedom of conscience" law.[10] During the attempted coup in August 1991, he denounced the arrest of Mikhail Gorbachev, and anathematized the plotters.[10] He publicly questioned the junta's legitimacy, called for restraint by the military, and demanded that Gorbachev be allowed to address the people.[16] He issued a second appeal against violence and fratricide, which was amplified over loudspeakers to the troops outside the Russian "White House" half an hour before they attacked.[14] Ultimately, the coup failed, which eventually resulted in the breakup of the Soviet Union.[17]

Alexy II speaking to orthodox believers in Pereslavl (1997)

In July 1998 Alexy II decided not to officiate in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of Saint Petersburg at the burial of the royal family murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918, a ceremony attended by president Boris Yeltsin, citing doubts about the authenticity of the remains.[18]

Under his leadership, the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia who suffered under Communism were glorified, beginning with the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Metropolitan Vladimir, and Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky) of Petrograd in 1992.[19] In 2000, after much debate, the All-Russian Council glorified Tsar Nicholas II and his family (see Romanov sainthood), as well as many other New Martyrs.[20] More names continue to be added to list of New Martyrs, after the Synodal Canonization Commission completes its investigation of each case.[21]

Alexy II had complicated relations with John Paul II and the Roman Catholic Church. He had a dispute with Rome over the property rights of the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine, which had emerged from Soviet control after the Gorbachev's liberalisation of Russia.[22] He nevertheless had good relations with Latin-rite Christians in France and was friends with Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who invited him to the country shortly before his death.[23]

Patriarch Alexy II (right) and Metropolitan Laurus (left) in the residence of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in Peredelkino.

Patriarch Alexy II repeatedly affirmed the traditional stand of the Orthodox Church and opposed the display of homosexuality in Russia, and in particular, opposed gay parades in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Church, according to the Patriarch, "has invariably supported the institution of the family and condemns untraditional relations, seeing them as a vicious deviation from God-given human nature". He also said, "I am convinced that gays' desire to organize a parade in Moscow will not help strengthen the family as the foundation of a strong state".[24] He also said that homosexuality is an illness, and a distortion of the human personality like kleptomania.[25][26]

Patriarch Alexy has also issued statements condemning anti-Semitism.[10]

On 27 April 2007, he was reported by some Russian media to be in grave condition and even dead,[27][28] though this was later shown to have been a hoax.[29][30][31][32] Patriarch Alexiy has stated that the motivation behind these rumors were to scuttle the upcoming reconciliation between the Russian Church inside of Russia with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.[33] "As you can see, I'm healthy, I'm serving, I'm alive," he is quoted as saying.[33] Despite his age, he appeared healthy, and had been leading an active pastoral life. He was frequently seen on Russian TV, conducting Church services, and meeting with various government officials.

In February 2007 a controversy erupted when Diomid, Bishop of Chukotka, condemned the ROC's hierarchy and personally Patrirch Alexy II for ecumenism, supporting democracy and misguided loyalty to the Russian secular authorities.[34][35] Bishop Diomid also took the position that taxpayer IDs, cell phones, passports, vaccination and globalisation were tools of the antichrist,[36] and that the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have "departed from the purity of the Orthodoxal dogma"[37] in its support of the Russian government and of democracy, as well as its ecumenism with other confessions. After a decision of the All-Russian Council, and Bishop Diomid's refusal to appear, he was defrocked in July 2008,[38]

Personal life

Danilov Monastery, the residence of the Patriarch and the Holy Synod

He married Vera Alekseeva,[39] the daughter of a priest from Tallinn Georgi Alekseev, later Bishop of Tallinn and Archbishop of Gorki, on 11 April 1950,[40][41][42] on the Tuesday of Bright Week when marriages are normally prohibited according to Church tradition; however, permission was granted by Metropolitan Gregory of Leningrad, at the request of Bishop Roman of Tallinn and the fathers of both the bride and groom (both of whom were priests, and who concelebrated the marriage together). Moskovskie Novosti has alleged that according to a denunciation written by a priest-inspector Pariysky to the Leningrad Council of Religious Affairs, the marriage had been expedited in order for Ridiger to become a deacon and avoid being drafted into the Soviet Military (marriage is impossible after ordination in Orthodoxy). Up until 1950, seminarians were given a deferment from the draft, but in 1950 this was changed, and only clergy were exempt. For reasons which have remained private, they divorced less than a year later.[40][42]

The Patriarch's private residence was located in the village of Lukino (near Peredelkino), now a western suburb of Moscow; it includes a 17th-century church, a museum, and a spacious three-storey house built in the late 1990s. According to the Patriarch's May 2005, interview,[43] on the residence's compound, nuns drawn from the Pühtitsa Convent took care of all the household chores.

There was also a working residence in central Moscow—a 19th-century town mansion, which had been turned over to the Patriarchate by Stalin's order in September 1943. Both residences acted as living quarters and Patriarch's office at the same time. He commuted in an armored car and was under the protection of federal agents (FSO) since January 2000.[44]

The formal residence (infrequently used for some official functions) is located in the Moscow Danilov Monastery – a two-storey Soviet building erected in the 1980s.

He died on 5 December 2008, from heart failure aged 79.

Awards and honors

Patriarch Alexy II was an honorary member of the Theological Academies in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Crete, Greece. He was made Doctor of Theology honoris causa at the Debrecen Reformed Theological University in Debrecen, Hungary. He also was honored by St. Vladimir's Seminary and St. Tikhon's Seminary an at the Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage in the USA. He was given the title of honorary professor by the Omsk State University and the Moscow State University. He was given an honorary Doctorate of Philology by St. Petersburg University. He was given an honorary Doctorate of Theology by the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade. He was given an honorary Doctorate of Theology by the Tbilisi Theological Academy in Georgia. He received a Golden Medal from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the Kosice University in Kosice, Slovakia, and was an honorary member of the International Charity and Health Foundation.[49]

Awards of the Russian Orthodox Church and other local churches
Other orders Metropolitan Patriarch of Antioch
State awards of the Russian Federation
State awards of the USSR
Awards of the Russian Federation
Departmental awards
Foreign awards
Community Awards
Honorary degrees

Controversies

Apology to Germany

During Alexy II's first official visit to Germany in 1995, the Patriarch publicly apologized for the "Communist tyranny that had been imposed upon the German nation by the USSR". The apology resulted in accusations by Russian Communists and the Russian National Bolshevik Party of insulting the Russian nation and treason.[50]

Opposition in the Russian Orthodox Church

Some activities, views and policies of Alexy II such as engaging in ecumenical dialogue (when Metropolitan, Alexy had been one of the presidents of the Conference of European Churches since 1964; in March 1987 he was elected President of the CEC Presidium and Advisory Committee, in which post he remained until November 1990)[51] with representatives of other religious groups[52] and publicly condemning antisemitism[53] were met with opposition by some in the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Alexy II responded by saying that such people do not represent the opinions of the church but expressed their own private views as free citizens instead.[54]

See also: Diomid Dzyuban

Alleged work for the KGB

Modern fresco of the Donskoi Monastery, representing Alexy II bringing the relics of Patriarch Tikhon into the monastery.

Patriarch Alexy II was alleged to have been a KGB agent according to multiple sources,[55][56][57][58][59][60] including Gleb Yakunin and Yevgenia Albats, who both were given access to the KGB archives.[57][61][62][63] He was mentioned in the KGB archives by the code name DROZDOV. However, it was very unusual for any person to be referenced in KGB documents prior to 1980 without a code name, regardless of their affiliation with, or independence from the KGB.[57] It has been alleged that archival documents seen by Yevgenia Albats stated that Alexy was awarded an Honorary Citation by the KGB chairman in 1988.[62] It has also been claimed, based on a document from the Estonian KGB archives, that Alexy was a highly successful agent who "pacified" rebellious monks.[64] This document provides biographical details about an agent which match those of Patriarch Alexy, though the Russian Orthodox Church has denied the authenticity of this document.[65] According to Oleg Gordievsky, Alexy had been working for the KGB for forty years, and his case officer was Nikolai Patrushev. These claims are supported by the British-based Keston Institute.[66]

The Moscow Patriarchate has, however, consistently denied that Patriarch Alexy was in fact a KGB Agent.[67] Konstanin Kharchev, former chairman of Soviet Council on Religious Affairs, explained: "Not a single candidate for the office of bishop or any other high-ranking office, much less a member of Holy Synod, went through without confirmation by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the KGB".[62] Professor Nathaniel Davis points out: "If the bishops wished to defend their people and survive in office, they had to collaborate to some degree with the KGB, with the commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs, and with other party and governmental authorities."[68]

Patriarch Alexy has acknowledged that compromises were made with the Soviet government by bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate, himself included, and publicly repented of these compromises:

"Defending one thing, it was necessary to give somewhere else. Were there any other organizations, or any other people among those who had to carry responsibility not only for themselves but for thousands of other fates, who in those years in the Soviet Union were not compelled to act likewise? Before those people, however, to whom the compromises, silence, forced passivity or expressions of loyalty permitted by the leaders of the church in those years caused pain, before these people, and not only before God, I ask forgiveness, understanding and prayers."[69]

According to Nathaniel Davis, when asked by the Russian press about claims that he was a "compliant" bishop, "Aleksi defended his record, noting that while he was bishop of Tallinn in 1961, he resisted the communist authorities' efforts to make the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the city a planetarium (which, in truth, they did do elsewhere in the Baltic states) and to convert the Pühtitsa Dormition nunnery to a rest home for miners."[70] Official records show that the Tallinn diocese had a lower number of forced Church closings than was typical in the rest of the USSR during Patriarch Alexy's tenure as bishop there.[71] Timothy Ware notes, "Opinions differ over the past collaboration or otherwise between the Communist authorities, but on the whole he is thought to have shown firmness and independence in his dealings as a diocesan bishop with the Soviet State."[72]

Death and burial

Funeral of Alexy II at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on 9 December 2008.
Mourners at the funeral of Alexy II including Serzh Sargsyan, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Voronin.

Alexy died at his home at his Peredelkino residence on 5 December 2008, reportedly of heart failure.[73]

On 7 December 2008, Russian President Medvedev issued a decree which "enjoined" that on the day of the Patriarch's burial Russia's cultural establishments and broadcasters should cancel entertaining programs and assistance be furnished to the Patriarchate on the part of the federal and city governments for organization of the burial.[74] However, the order did not amount to a formal national mourning.[75]

On 9 December 2008, the Order for the Burial (funeral service) of the deceased Patriarch was presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,[76] whereafter he was interred in the southern chapel of the Epiphany Cathedral at Elokhovo in Moscow.[77]

During the service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, which was broadcast live by Russia's state TV channels, after Kathisma XVII had been chanted and Metropolitan Kirill set about doing the incensing round the coffin, he appeared to teeter and, being propped up by two bishops,[78] was ushered into the sanctuary and was absent for about an hour. Reuters reported: "Kirill was helped away by aides at one point and a Kremlin official said he had apparently fainted. The metropolitan later rejoined the funeral."[79][80] The ROC official spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin lashed out at the news media that had reported the incident "incorrectly" insisting that Kirill had not fainted, but merely had "felt unwell".[81]

Opinions about Alexy II

Prime Minister Putin at the coffin of Patriarch Alexy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA Biographical note". orthodox.ee. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  2. ↑ The spelling of the names here is transliteration from Russian in the Patriarch's official biography – АЛЕКСИЙ II Orthodox Encyclopaedia (2000)
  3. 1 2 3 Veedla, Aarne (4 February 2003). "Patriarhi suguvõsa saladused" (in Estonian). ekspress.ee. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "Chronology" (in Estonian). Museum of Laanemaa. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  5. ↑ KISHKOVSKY, SOPHIA (6 December 2008). "Patriarch Aleksy II". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  6. 1 2 Vahter, Aarne (4 February 2003). "Eestlane juhtis 80 miljonit õigeusklikku" (in Estonian). ekspress.ee. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  7. ↑ "Seventeen Moments in Soviet History". Soviethistory.org. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Corley, Felix (6 December 2008). "Patriarch Alexy II". London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  9. 1 2 ALEXY II, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE, biography, on the Moscow Patriarchate Official website.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s.v. Alexis II, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005644/Alexis-II 19 January 2008
  11. ↑ Патриарх демократической волны Nezavisimaya gazeta 17 December 2008.
  12. ↑ К. М. Харчев : «Церковь повторяет ошибки КПСС» Konstantin Kharchev's interview published 29 December 2001.
  13. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, 2nd Edition.(Oxford: Westview Press, 2003),p 85.
  14. 1 2 Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, 2nd Edition.(Oxford: Westview Press, 2003),p 86.
  15. ↑ Zhurnal Moskovskoi Patriarkhii, No. 10 (October), 1990, p.16, quoted in Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, 2nd Edition.(Oxford: Westview Press, 2003),p 284.
  16. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, 2nd Edition.(Oxford: Westview Press, 2003),p 96.
  17. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, 2nd Edition.(Oxford: Westview Press, 2003),p 97.
  18. ↑ "Romanovs laid to rest". BBC News. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  19. ↑ Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church, New Edition, (London: Penguin Books, 1997), p. 164, see also New Martyrs, Confessors, and Passion-Bearers of Russia
  20. ↑ Sophia Kishkovsky, Russian Orthodox Church is set to mend a bitter schism, International Herald Tribune, 16 May 2007; Second day of bishops' council: Nicholas' canonization approved, Communications Service, Department of External Church Relations, Moscow Patriarchate, 14 August 2000
  21. ↑ Maxim Massalitin,The New Martyrs Unify Us: Interview with Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov, participant of the All-Diaspora Pastoral Conference in Nyack (8–12 December 2003), Pravoslavie.ru, 13 December 2003
  22. ↑ "Alexy II and dialogue". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  23. ↑ "Le patriarche Alexis II est arrivé en France". Fr.rian.ru. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  24. ↑ "Interfax-Religion". Interfax-religion.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  25. ↑ Castle, Stephen. "Patriarch Alexy of Russia assails gays in speech at Council of Europe – International Herald Tribune". Iht.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  26. ↑ Updated, Last (3 October 2007). "Gay people are ill, says Russian patriarch – Telegraph". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  27. ↑ Патриархия: Алексий II жив, здоров и вернется к исполнению обязанностей уже на майские праздники. NEWSru.com 27 April 2007.
  28. ↑ Патриарх между жизнью и смертью. Gazeta.ru 27 April 2007.
  29. ↑ "MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE CONDEMNS MEDIA SPREADING RUMORS ON PATRIARCH'S HEALTH Interfax, 1 May 2007". Stetson.edu. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  30. ↑ "PATRIARCH ALEXY II PHILOSOPHIC ABOUT RUMORS OF HIS "DEATH" Interfax, 1 May 2007". Stetson.edu. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  31. ↑ "PATRIARCHAL PRESS SERVICE IDENTIFIES GUILTY IN SPREADING OF FALSE INFORMATION, Religiia v svetskom obshchestve, 3 May 2007". Stetson.edu. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  32. ↑ Who Organized The Provocative Rumors on Eve of May 17?, "Postscript" TV program, 12 May 2007
  33. 1 2 "Russian Patriarch confounds rumors: 'I'm alive', Ecumenical New International, 5 May 2007". Speroforum.com. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  34. ↑ "Russian church tells rebel bishop: repent or leave". Reuters. 27 June 2008. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  35. ↑ "Controversial bishop defrocked in Russia's Far East". RIA Novosti. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  36. ↑ "Unrestful congress" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  37. ↑ ОБРАЩЕНИЕ ко всем архипастырям, пастырям, клирикам, монашествующим и всем верным чадам Святой Православной Церкви (in Russian). Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  38. ↑ "Епископ Диомид предал анафеме па".
  39. ↑ Алексеева Вера Георгиевна in "Энциклопедия Зарубежной России"
  40. 1 2 Wife of the Patriarch, by Evgeniy Sidorenko, Moscow News, № 21 (22 May 2001)
  41. ↑ Евгений Сидоренко. Замужем за Патриархом Same article, but with the original photographs of the printed article.
  42. 1 2 Путь Первоиерарха Nezavisimaya gazeta 17 December 2008.
  43. ↑ "Интервью Святейшего Патриарха Алексия ежедневной газете "Газета". ''"Загородную резиденцию в полной мере ощущаю своим домом"''". Patriarchia.ru. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  44. ↑ Колода Российской Федерации. Коммерсантъ Власть. №44 [547] 10 November 2003.
  45. ↑ "His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II Awarded". Russian Orthodox Church. 28 December 2000. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  46. ↑ "International Religious Freedom Report 2004". US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  47. ↑ "Президент России". Document.kremlin.ru. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  48. ↑ "Alexy II is awarded the highest Muslim Order". interfax. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  49. ↑ "His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia". RUC Representation to the European Institutions. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  50. ↑ Pospielovsky, Dimitry (1998). The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 394. ISBN 0-88141-179-5.
  51. ↑ ЖМП (Russian edition of The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate), 1991, # 2, p. 61.
  52. ↑ WCC News Release. "The ecumenical movement mourns the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia". WCC. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  53. ↑ Slater, Grant. "Russian Orthodox voice against anti-Semitism dies". Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  54. ↑ Pospielovsky, pp.396–397
  55. ↑ Alexiy Ridiger, by Yakov Krotov
  56. ↑ Felix Corley (8 December 2008). "Patriarch Alexy II: Priest who stayed close to the Kremlin while guiding the Russian Orthodox Church into the post-Soviet era". London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  57. 1 2 3 Confirmed: Russian Patriarch Worked with KGB, Catholic World News. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  58. ↑ Russian Patriarch "was KGB spy" The Guardian 12 February 1999
  59. ↑ Chekists in Cassocks: The Orthodox Church and the KGB – by Keith Armes, Demokratizatsiya
  60. ↑ The Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Aleksii II and the Russian State: An Unholy Alliance? – by Leslie L. McGann, Demokratizatsiya
  61. ↑ Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7
  62. 1 2 3 Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia — Past, Present, and Future. 1994. ISBN 0-374-52738-5, page 46.
  63. ↑ Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy – Putin's Espionage Church, an excerpt from a forthcoming book, "Russian Americans: A New KGB Asset" by Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy
  64. ↑ Cold War Lingers At Russian Church In New Jersey By Suzanne Sataline, Wall Street Journal 18 July 2007.
  65. ↑ "Russian Patriarch 'was KGB spy'". London: Guardian.co.uk. 12 February 1999. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  66. ↑ "Patriarch Alexy II was KGB informer: Institute". Zeenews.com. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  67. ↑ "Official spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchy Father Vsevolod Chaplin labeled such reports as "absolutely unsubstantiated" in a Wednesday interview with Interfax. "There is no data indicating that Patriarch Alexy II was an associate of the special services, and no classified documents bear his signature," he said. "I do not think that direct dialogue between the current patriarch and KGB took place," Father Vsevolod continued. However, "all bishops communicated with representatives of the council for religious matters in the Soviet government, which was inevitable, since any issue, even the most insignificant one, had to be resolved through this body. It is quite another matter that the council forwarded all its materials to the KGB," he said." Moscow Patriarchate Rejects Times Report of Alexy II'S Collaboration with KGB, Sept 20, 2000 (Interfax) "Chaplin, the church spokesman, said in March, "Nobody has ever seen a single real document that would confirm the patriarch used his contacts with Soviet authorities to make harm to the church or to any people in the church." Russia's Well-Connected Patriarch, Washington Post Foreign Service , 23 May 2002; "Father Chaplin said: 'In recent times many anonymous photocopies of all sorts of pieces of paper have been circulated. In none of them is there the slightest evidence that the individuals we are talking about knew that these documents were being drawn up, or gave their consent. So I don't think any reasonably authoritative clerical or secular commission could see these papers as proof of anything.'", Russian Patriarch 'was KGB spy', The Guardian (London) , 12 February 1999
  68. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy,(Oxford: Westview Press, 1995),p .96 Davis quotes one bishop as saying: "Yes, we – I, at least, and I say this first about myself – I worked together with the KGB. I cooperated, I made signed statements, I had regular meetings, I made reports. I was given a pseudonym – a code name as they say there... I knowingly cooperated with them – but in such a way that I undeviatingly tried to maintain the position of my Church, and, yes, also to act as a patriot, insofar as I understood, in collaboration with these organs. I was never a stool pigeon, nor an informer."
  69. ↑ From an interview of Patriarch Alexy II, given to "Izvestia" No 137, 10 June 1991, entitled "Patriarch Alexy II: – I Take upon Myself Responsibility for All that Happened", English translation from Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy,(Oxford: Westview Press, 1995),p 89. See also History of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, by St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco, 31 December 2007
  70. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy,(Oxford: Westview Press, 1995),p. 89f
  71. ↑ Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy,(Oxford: Westview Press, 1995), fn. 115, p. 272
  72. ↑ Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church, New Edition, (London: Penguin Books, 1997), p. 164
  73. ↑ "Russian Orthodox Church leader Alexy II dies – 2" (in Russian). Moscow: RIA Novosti. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  74. ↑ Указ Президента № 1729/2008 kremlin.ru
  75. ↑ (Russian)Печаль без траура: Медведев велел ограничить развлекательные мероприятия в день похорон Алексия II NEWSru.com 8 December 2008.
  76. ↑ (Russian)Патриарх Алексий завершил свой земной путь NEWSru.com 9 December 2008.
  77. ↑ "Russia bids farewell to patriarch". Moscow: BBC NEWS. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  78. ↑ "ФОТОГАЛЕРЕЯ: Пути Местоблюстителя... Митрополит Кирилл и его "школа"". Portal-credo.ru. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  79. ↑ "Russians bid farewell to Patriarch at grand funeral". Moscow: Reuters. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 January 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  80. ↑ Упокоился с миром (in Russian). Moscow: Gazeta.ru. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  81. ↑ В Московском патриархате опровергли слухи о том, будто митрополит Кирилл потерял сознание во время отпевания патриарха Алексия (in Russian). Moscow: Interfax. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  82. ↑ "Death of Alexy II a tragic and sorrowful event – Putin" (in Russian). Interfax. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  83. ↑ "Double life of Russia's patriarch". BBC (BBC News). 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  84. ↑ "Rabbi Schneier attends Alexy II funeral". JTA. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  85. ↑ "President Ilves sent a message of condolence to Dmitri Medvedev". Office of the president. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.

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Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by
Pimen		 Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
1990–2008 		Succeeded by
Kirill
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