Patriarch Alexius II

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Image:Alexii II.jpg Patriarch Alexius II (born February 23, 1929) is the current Patriarch of Moscow and the spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He was born as Alexey Mikhailovich Ridiger (Алексей Михайлович Ри́дигер) in Tallinn, Estonia, to the family of a priest; he is a descendant of the German Baltic nobility clan of von Rüdiger, which adopted Orthodoxy in the 18th century. He graduated from Leningrad clerical seminary in 1949; was ordained a deacon in 1950 (and later, a priest & monk); graduated from Leningrad clerical academy in 1953. On August 14, 1961, he was chosen to be the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia. On June 23, 1964, he was promoted to archbishop; and, on February 25, 1968, at the age of 39 to metropolitan. After the death of Patriarch Pimen I in 1990 Alexei was chosen to become the new Patriarch of The Russian Orthodox Church.

Despite his age, Patriarch Alexius II is very healthy and leads an active pastoral life. He's frequently seen on Russian TV, meeting with politicians.

Relatively little is known about his personal life. The Patriarchal residence is located in Peredelkino, a suburb of Moscow; it includes a 350 year old restored church, a museum, and a three-storey house. There is also a winter residence - an apartment in the center of Moscow. Both residences act as living quarters and Patriarch's office at the same time. He commutes in an armored car under the protection of federal agents. Being a monk, Patriarch Alexius II is not allowed to possess any property himself; residences and cars are the property of the Moscow Patriarchate. Image:Donskoi3.jpg

His name (secular Алексей, clerical Алексий) is transliterated from the Cyrillic alphabet into English in various forms, including Alexius, Alexei, and Alexy. He did not change his first name when he became a monk.

1 Controversy
2 External links
3 References
4 Footnotes

[edit] Controversy

Patriarch Alexius II was alleged to be a KGB agent during the Soviet era, according to documents smuggled out of Russia by Vasili Mitrokhin and published in England in 1999. Alexius' KGB code name according to Mitrokhin was DROZDOV and he was recruited on February 28, 1958. The Russian Orthodox Church believes these documents were forged. However the version about agent DROZDOV was independently confirmed by Father Gleb Yakunin and Evgenia Albats who both were given access to KGB archives <ref name="Andrew"> Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7 </ref> <ref name="Albats"> 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.</ref>

[edit] External links

(Russian) His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
(English) His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

[edit] References

Andrew, Christopher and Vasili Mitrokhin. The Sword and the Shield : The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. New York : Basic Books, 1999. Chapter 28 deals with the KGB infiltration of Soviet-era churches.

[edit] Footnotes

Ancient Patriarchates
The Current Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs
Bartholomew I (Cons.) \| Theodoros II (Alex.) \| Ignatius IV (Hazim) (Ant.) \| Theophilos III (Jeru.)
Autocephalous Churches
Alexius II (RU) \| Ilia II (GE) \| Pavle (RS) \| Teoctist (RO) \| Maxim (BG) Chrysostomos II (CY) \| Christodoulos (GR) \| Sawa (PL) \| Anastasios (AL) \| Christopher (CZ/SK)