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Russian Orthodox Church head dies Russian Orthodox Church head dies
(about 1 hour later)
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexiy II, has died, Church officials say.The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexiy II, has died, Church officials say.
The patriarch died on Friday morning, aged 79, the Church told the BBC.The patriarch died on Friday morning, aged 79, the Church told the BBC.
They did not give a reason and the date of the funeral has not yet been set. He had been sick for some time and died at his residence outside Moscow. They did not give a reason for his death at his residence outside Moscow, but he had been sick for some time. No date has been set yet for the funeral.
The patriarch helped restore the moral authority of the Russian Orthodox Church after decades of repression under communism. Alexiy II was credited with helping restore the moral authority of the Russian Orthodox Church after decades of repression under communism.
But relations with the Roman Catholic Church remained frosty and he refused repeatedly to meet former Pope John Paul II or his successor Benedict XVI. However, relations with the Roman Catholic Church remained frosty and he repeatedly refused to meet the late Pope John Paul II, or his successor, Benedict XVI.
Alexiy II became head of the Church in 1990, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union.
He brought the scattered branches of the Russian Orthodox church back under the control of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he was shocked by the death. "I respected him deeply," he said.