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The enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on February 1, 2009. He was elected to the Moscow Patriarchal Throne by the Local Council [Pomestny Sobor] of the Russian Orthodox Church on January 27.
On the evening of January 27, 2009, the results of the election of the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia were announced. The Local Council [Pomestny Sobor] elected His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at its session on 10 December 2008 took decision on the dates of the Bishops' Council and the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church to elect Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
On December 6, 2008, a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was opened in the Patriarchal residence in Peredelkino. The meeting was called in connection with the repose of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The members of the Holy Synod raised a prayer by the coffin of Patriarch Alexy for the repose of his soul, reports the communication service of the Department of Church External Relations.
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.
