*Dear homeland, tithes low, send oil money...
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES REUNITE. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksy
II signed on May 17 a Canonical Communion Act with the leader of the
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Lavr, at a solemn ceremony in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, Russian and Western news agencies reported. The ceremony, timed to coincide with
Ascension Day, reunited the Russian Orthodox Church with the breakaway church that split off following the Bolshevik Revolution, after the then leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch
Sergy, declared the church's loyalty to the communist government.
Aleksy called the ceremony "an historic event that will liquidate the tragic consequences of the civil war," AP reported. Leaders of the
New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Abroad flew to Moscow earlier this week for the event. President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony before leaving for Samara for a summit with EU leaders.
Aleksy said Putin, an Orthodox believer, has strongly supported the reconciliation and gave him a folding icon of the Trinity, Interfax reported. The Russian Orthodox Church has recovered some of its old influence since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and is a firm supporter of the new Russian state. The connection of the Russian
Orthodox Church with the state has been very strong historically. A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Archpriest
Aleksandr Lebedev, has likewise stressed his church's devotion to
"Russianness," Interfax reported. FF
