On a five-day visit to Rome, a Russian Orthodox official in charge of interchurch relations has had a meeting with the Pope - a sign of improved relations between the two churches under Benedict XVI and the new Russian Patriarch.

A visit to Ukraine by Patriarch Kirill I of the Russian Orthodox Church has laid to rest talk of the need for formal independence of one of the most significant parts of the church, say top aides.

A 10-day trip to the Ukraine by Patriarch Kirill I from the Russian Orthodox Church is set to include visits to a monument established to victims of the Stalin-era famine.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill I has addressed thousands of young people on the dangers of alcoholism and an unchecked market economy as he takes the church to people used to the Kremlin as the biggest institution.

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, who served as the Moscow Patriarchate's representative to European organizations in Brussels, has been appointed as head of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department of External Church Relations.

The global financial crisis has affected the Russian Orthodox Church, which, like the State, is curtailing programmes and preparing for the possibility of further cutbacks.

Metropolitan Kirill, who was recently enthroned as the 16th patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, has stressed his task as ensuring unity and preserving the faith, but is also seen as more 'political'.

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been elected as the new head of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Orthodox Church after serving a period as interim leader.

The question of who the new Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church should be has produced heated debates about political and religious power.

The funeral of leading Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church has taken place in Moscow, with the service being attended by President Dmitri A. Medvedev and Prime Minster Vladimir Putin