wfn.org | LWI 2008-089 - Tribute to a Leader of Great Faithfulness During Significant Change in Russian Socie

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Tribute to a Leader of Great Faithfulness During Significant Change in  Russian Society and Church
LWF General Secretary Underlines Good Relations with Russian Orthodox  Church under Patriarch Alexei II

GENEVA, 9 December 2008 (LWI)  - His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of the  Russian Orthodox Church "was a rock of great faithfulness and stability"  during years of great challenge and change in his country and church, said  Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation  (LWF) in a letter of condolence to the church's Moscow Patriarchate,  following the patriarch's death on 5 December.

The LWF general secretary paid tribute to Alexei II, patriarch since 1990  until his death at the age of 79, for providing crucial leadership for  both the Russian Orthodox Church and the country through difficult times.  "As Lutherans, we have a special gratitude for his encouragement of good  relations between our churches in your country," he said in the letter  addressed to the Chairman of the Department for External Relations  Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, acting head of the  church.

Noko made reference to his 1996 meeting with the patriarch in Moscow,  during which "we could celebrate these good relations and look together  toward a common future." He said he held Alexei II in "high respect for  the honesty and courage with which [he] faced the complicated and  fast-changing realities in which the Church found itself during his  patriarchate." That the Russian Orthodox Church had in recent years shown  such resilient strength in rebuilding public structures for Christian  life, he noted, "is surely due significantly to his leadership."

While affirming the LWF's continued cooperation with the Russian Orthodox  Church toward common witness in the world, Noko pointed out that the world  Christian family "needs a vital and confident Russian Orthodox Church." He  underlined the anticipation for a church which would continue both to  nurture the Russian people in their faith and also reach out to other  Christians and people of faith to work together for a world of peace.

Noko promised the LWF's prayers that the "next Patriarch will be a person  of faithful vision to continue all the good for which Patriarch Alexei  gave his life's energy." (364 words) *        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran  tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140  member churches in 79 countries all over the world, with a total membership  of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in  areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations,  theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the  various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is  located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless  specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or  opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an  article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced  with acknowledgment.]

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