Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople has left Russia after a 10-day visit praised by his hosts for strengthening relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos and Kirill I of the Russian Orthodox Church, seeking to overcome decades of tension, have met Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
A visit by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople to Moscow underscores a thawing in relations after decades of tension during the Soviet and post-Soviet era.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has honoured victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide, but Turkey's president says he may expel Armenians after condemnations in the USA and Sweden.
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.