On Friday morning, December 5, 2008, His Holiness, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Alexei II, departed to the Lord, after governing the Russian Orthodox Church for eighteen years. The Patriarch was eighty years old when he reposed his Patriarchal residence located in the Moscow suburb of Peredelkino.
In accordance with the Rule of the Russian Orthodox Church, there will be an emergency meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops, at which a Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne will be elected. The Locum Tenens will govern the Russian Church until a new Patriarch is elected, and will head the Funeral Commission.
The time for His Holiness, Patriarch Alexei’s funeral service will also be determined at the meeting of the Holy Synod.
In accordance with the Rule, the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia must be chosen at a Local Ecclesiastical Council during the course of one-half of a year following the repose of his predecessor, which shall be in this case no later than May, 2009.
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