Russia and world religious and political leaders bury Orthodox Church leader in Moscow
The religious rites and other official arrangements for the burial ceremony of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexei II enter its final phase today as world religious leaders of all traditional faiths and global political and business leaders gathered in Moscow for the final burial mass services at the grandiose Christ the Savior Cathedral in the center of the Russian capital.
The patriarch, born in 1929, died on December 5 at the age of 79. The new head of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the Sinod rules and other church traditions, is to be elected within six months after the death of the last patriarch. The funeral process, which is expected to be attended by thousands of churchgoers and other well wishers, is likely to paralyze the city’s traditionally traffic-jammed streets today. About 6,000 police and other security agencies will be on standby to ensure a hitch-free ceremony.
Now, the funeral and other burial rites are in full swing throughout the city. Specially in town to show their last respects for the religious leader, who, despite his persecutions during the Soviet era, maintained his faith intact and finally became the head of the Russian Orthodox Church after the demise of the Soviet empire in 1990, is Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, who is historically and traditionally seen as the first in the leadership hierarchy among the heads of the other global/national Orthodox Communion churches. He will lead the final burial mass rites and conduct other funeral procedural requirements before the burial at a special grave in the historical part of the Russian capital. Others taking part in the funeral services include Smolensk and Kaliningrad Archbishop Kirill, the acting Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and other high-ranking religious leaders from in and outside the country.
Also in town to grace the occasion with their presence are the Armenian, Georgian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak orthodox churches leaders and other heads of orthodox churches in Eastern and Central European countries. Others included high-ranking representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches, heads/representatives of the Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Evangelical, Lutheran and other traditional religions and religious organizations/associations from all over the world.
Among the political leaders attending the funeral services and burial ceremonial rites are Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other top Russian Cabinet members. Internationally, among the visiting foreign leaders were Serbian President Boris Tadic, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Moldavian President Vladimir Voronin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and several other dignitaries. Most heads of state and foreign governments were mainly from countries, where the official religion is the Orthodox Communion and/or it is the dominant form of Christianity practiced by the residents.
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