Patriarch Alexiy II --Memory Eternal
I just read a report that Patriarch Alexiy II of the Russian Orthodox Church has reposed. The entire story can be read here.
While he was a controversial figure for many, he was controversial for many good reasons, and the story does a good job summarizing his life and his importance in Russia.
"He served the church when there were only 40 places of worship in Moscow and now by his grace there are more than 500. So one can only imagine what this tragedy will mean for the church," [a spokesman] told Reuters.Memory eternal!
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Even more dramatic is the change from when he was born in 1929. According to Wikipedia, "In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the Russian Republic fell from 29,584 to less than 500." That means that when he died there were as many churches open in Moscow alone as were open in the entire country at the start of WWII when he was 11 years old.
With that level of persecution - not the almost juvenile persecution we receive in the West by the likes of Dawkins, college professors and Anti-Prop 8 agitators - it is difficult to say what we 'would have done' if we were trying to protect the church in those years. Perhaps there was too much cooperation with the Communists and the KGB, perhaps there was no real choice, perhaps it looks worse from the comfort of a well stocked kitchen free from the fear of a knock on the door in the middle of the night.
Memory eternal.
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