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Metropolitan Kirill heads Russian Orthodox Church · 2009-01-28 13:49
Metropolitan Kirill has been elected head of the Russian Orthodox Church, becoming the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
Kirill received 508 votes, and the second candidate, Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk ??“ 169 votes, RIA Novosti reports.
The Local Council, which is a council of bishops, priests, monks and laymen, including political figures and businessmen, gathered in Moscow earlier on Tuesday to elect the new Russian Orthodox Church leader.
The 700-plus-member group convened for a session to elect a successor to Patriarch Alexy II, who died in December at the age of 79 after leading the revival of the world's largest Orthodox church since 1990. This was the first election of a patriarch since the breakup of the atheist Soviet Union.
Metropolitan Kirill is 62. He took monastic vows in 1969. Soon he was ordained hierodeacon and hieromonk.
In 1970 Kirill completed a degree from the Leningrad Theological Academy, where he was retained as a professor of dogmatic theology and aid to the Academy's Inspector.
Since August 30, 1970, he was a personal secretary to Nikodim (Rotov), Metroplitan of Leningrad.
On September 12, 1971, he became archimandrite and was posted as a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva.
In 1974 he was appointed Rector of the Leningrad Academy and Seminary.
Since December 1975, Metropolitan Kirill was a member of the WCC Central Committee and Executive Committee.
In 1974-1984 he was the Rector of the Leningrad Spiritual Academy and Seminary.
In 1971 he was appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches and has been actively involved in the ecumenical activity of the Russian Orthodox Church since then.
In 1978, Kirill was appointed Deputy Chairman, and in November 1989, Chairman of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate and permanent member of the Holy Synod. He is known as active and efficient diplomat. The main success of foreign relations of the Russian Orthodox Church during Kirill's service are the External Relations Department has been the reunification of the ROC with the “Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia”.
After the death of Patriarch Alexy II (1990-2008), Metropolitan Kirill became the interim Patriarch.
The new Russian patriarch is expected to be enthroned on Sunday and his term of office is lifelong.
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