A village priest has been killed by thieves after Christmas Eve services marked by the Russian Orthodox Church on 6 January 2007, in the second violent death of a cleric to shake the church in just over a month

Today (7 January 2007) is the day of Christmas celebrations for 150 million Orthodox Christians across the world ‚Ä' the branch of the global Christian family which still claims the deepest links with the post-apostolic Church.

The death of a village priest, his wife and three small children in a mysterious fire has highlighted hardships that Russian Orthodox clergy face in isolated locations outside Moscow's bubble of wealth and power ‚Ä' writes Sophia Kishkovsky from Moscow for Ecumenical News International.