Russian Orthodox church reunites after 80-year rift

By Olesya Dmitracova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Orthodox Church healed an 80-year rift on Thursday when a rival faction set up in the West by monarchists fleeing the Soviet Union restored ties with the mother church in a lavish cathedral ceremony.

The leaders of the two Orthodox factions signed a reunification document as bells rang out from Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior and bearded priests chanted and crossed themselves.

President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony, another move by Russia to reconnect with its pre-Soviet past and lay to rest the ghosts of revolution and state-sponsored atheism.

"The split in the church was the result of a deep political crisis in Russian society," Putin said after kissing an Orthodox icon in the gold-domed cathedral, rebuilt in the 1990s after the original was blown up under Stalin's rule.

"The restoration of church unity is an important condition for rediscovering the lost unity of Russian people."

A spy in Communist times, Putin has openly demonstrated his Orthodox faith since becoming president in 2000 and enjoys close relations with Patriarch Alexiy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Wearing a bright green flowing robe with red and white stripes, Alexiy signed the document with Metropolitan Laurus, the New York-based leader of the Orthodox Church Abroad in front of church dignitaries and distant relatives of the last Tsar.

White Russian exiles who supported Tsar Nicholas II and opposed the communists set up the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) after losing the 1920s civil war. They set up a headquarters in Serbia but later moved to New York.

ROCOR has dioceses in parts of the United States, Germany, Britain, Australasia, Ukraine and Russia.

"I congratulate everybody on this joyous occasion," said Metropolitan Laurus in a low, mumbled voice.

'GODLESS' COMMUNISTS

Alexiy II said this was a historic day. "A day of bringing together the resettled children of our motherland and Church," he told the audience in a powerful voice.

Hundreds of believers queued in the rain to enter the cathedral.

"We're all together now, I've a great feeling about today," 39-year-old Russian emigre Andrei Subbotin, who moved to Canada, said as he waited.

The document signed on Thursday establishes "canonical Communion", meaning the two churches recognize each other's religious hierarchies and celebrations and the Orthodox Church Abroad will accept the final authority of Moscow-based Alexiy.