Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 Dec. / Trend corr. I.Alizade/ Clerical leader of Caucasus Muslims Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade will attend the funeral of Alexi II, the Patriarch of All-Russia, Caucasus Muslims Clerical Office said to Trend on 5 Dec.
Allahshukur Pashazade presents his condolences to the Russian leadership, Russian Orthodox Church and Russian people.
Alexi II, the Patriarch of All-Russia, died on 4 Dec.
Alexi II, born in 1929, elected in 1990 to be patriarch (or head bishop) of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church is part of the Orthodox Church , which carries on religious traditions from early Christianity. Alexi (his birth name is Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger) became a priest in Estonia, which was then part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He was made bishop of Tallinn, Estonia's capital, in 1961. Rising through church ranks, he became an archbishop, then a metropolitan (head of a province) in Estonia. In 1986, he became metropolitan of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Alexi is active in the World Council of Churches, and became chairman of the Conference of European Churches in 1987.
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