Russian Orthodox patriarch dies

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who presided over a vast post-Soviet revival of faith but was accused of making the church a force for nationalism, has died aged 79.

He was born Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger on February 23, 1929 in Tallinn, Estonia. The son of a priest, Alexy often accompanied his parents on pilgrimages to churches and monasteries, and he helped his father minister to prisoners in Nazi concentration camps in Estonia. It was during those visits that Alexy decided to pursue a religious life, not an easy choice under Soviet rule.

Alexy was ordained in 1950, progressed through the Orthodox hierarchy, and was consecrated Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia in 1961.

Alexy, who suffered heart problems, became leader of the church in 1990, as the officially atheist Soviet Union was loosening its restrictions on religion.

After the Soviet Union collapsed the following year, the church’s popularity surged. Church domes that had been stripped of their gold under the Soviets were regilded, churches that had been converted into warehouses or left to rot in neglect were painstakingly restored and hours-long Masses on major religious holidays were broadcast live on national television.

By the time of Alexy’s death, the church’s flock was estimated to include about two-thirds of Russia’s 142 million people, making it the world’s largest Orthodox church.