Russian Orthodox Leader Dies at 80

JORDANVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Metropolitan Laurus, who played a key role in healing an 80-year schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and an offshoot set up abroad following the Bolshevik Revolution, was found dead Sunday. He was 80.

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(Photo: AP Images / Misha Japaridze, File)

Metropolitan Laurus, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, is seen in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, in this Thursday, May 17, 2007 file photo. Metropolitan Laurus, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia died on Sunday, March 16, 2008

Laurus, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, was found dead in his residence at the Holy Trinity Monastery in rural Jordanville, N.Y., about 60 miles northwest of Albany, according to the Synod of Bishops in Moscow. He had been feeling ill for several days.

In May 2007, Laurus and Moscow Patriarch Alexy II signed a reunification pact at a lavish, nationally televised ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin and a throng of worshippers in Moscow's vast Christ the Savior Cathedral.

The rift in the church came after the 1917 revolution. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia cut all ties in 1927 after Moscow Patriarch Sergiy declared loyalty to the Communist government. Reunification talks began after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Laurus said that the reunion pact didn't mark a merger, and that his branch would maintain administrative control over its 400-plus parishes worldwide. The New York-based church reports 480,000 U.S. members.

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