MOSCOW: The domestic and exiled branches of the Russian Orthodox Church formally reunited here on Thursday in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin to end an 80-year split over communism.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, and the leader of the church's branch in exile, Metropolitan Lavr, signed the reunification agreement during an elaborate ceremony at Moscow's largest cathedral.
"By this Act, canonical communion within the Local Russian Orthodox Church is hereby restored," the act read, according to a transcript published on the web site of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia....
Dr. Joel Beeke | 1/3/2010
