Russian Orthodox Patriarch dies
Updated on 05 December 2008
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.
The Moscow Patriarchate said he died at his residence outside Moscow, but did not give a cause of death. Alexy had long suffered from a heart ailment.
Alexy became leader of the church in 1990, as the officially atheist Soviet Union was loosening its restrictions on religion.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
