Russian Orthodox Church head dies

By Moscow Correspondent Scott Bevan and wires

Posted Fri Dec 5, 2008 8:36pm AEDT
Updated Sat Dec 6, 2008 3:05am AEDT

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexiy II, has died aged 79.

A church spokesman has said the Patriarch died on Friday morning at his home in the Moscow region.

While no reason has been given for his death, it is understood the Patriarch has been sick for some time.

Patriarch Alexiy II was an establishment figure who restored the authority of the church after decades of Soviet repression.

Former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev has told the Interfax news agency he was shocked by the news.

The patriarch was an impressive character with a benign expression and moral authority among millions of Russian believers but his personality was always locked in by the deeply hierarchical nature of his role.

Alexiy II took stances on foreign policy issues that often matched the Kremlin line, criticising NATO strikes against Yugoslavia, the US-led war in Iraq and defending the rights of ethnic-Russians in the former Soviet Union.

An archbishop from regional Russia has described the Patriarch as a holy man and said the country had lost its pastor.

A date for the funeral has not been set.

A spokeswoman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he has cancelled his upcoming Italy trip after learning of the Patriach's death and is returning from India to Russia.

- ABC/Reuters