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 head of the World Council of Churches has welcomed Metropolitan Kyrill of as the new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, highlighting his desire for positive global inter-church relations.

The destruction of ethnic Georgian communities in South Ossetia, the deep wounds to local society and war damage to the capital city confronted a delegation from the World Council of Churches on the second half of a 3-7 September 2008 pastoral visit to Georgia and Russia.