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Death of Patriarch Alexei II Mourned

Chairperson of the Council of the EKD Extends Condolences to the Russian Orthodox Church

December 5, 2008

The chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) Bishop Wolfgang Huber addressed a message to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Moscow) expressing deep sadness over the passing away of Russian Patriarch Alexei II. From the meeting of the EKD Council, he sent his profound sympathy on behalf of the Council to the Russian Orthodox Church and recalled his encounters with the Patriarch.  He wrote:

I learned with deep sadness the news of the death of His Holiness Alexei II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. In this time of grieving, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany is united in prayer and in mourning with the Holy Synod, the clergy and all the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church and asks most merciful God for consolation and support.

We recall with gratitude our fraternal encounters with His Holiness, especially during his landmark visit to Germany, at the common prayer for peace at the Danilov Monastery in April 2005 on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II and at the time of the Religious Leaders Conference held in May 2006 in Moscow.  We thank almighty God for having led our two churches along the path of reconciliation, spiritual sharing and theological dialogue.

There is not doubt that Patriarch Alexei II's many years of spiritual labor have borne and will continue to bear grace-giving fruit in Russia and in Germany. We gratefully remember him in particular for having served as chairperson of the International Church and Society Conference, as a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and as president of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Through his work, he has witnessed to the world, in order that the world might recognize the light of our savior Jesus Christ.

May the triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit receive him into God's peace.  In Christ I share your sadness over this loss, and your hope in the resurrection of the dead.
 
Hanover/Berlin, 5 December 2008
Press Office of the EKD
Christof Vetter