Patriarch Alexis Ii Urges Compatriots Abroad To Help Russia

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis II has urged his fellow countrymen residing abroad to help Russia. The Church has always acted as the keeper of national unity, reads the patriarch's address to the Congress of Compatriots, which opened in Moscow on Thursday and which the patriarch hopes will strengthen the link between Russia and its citizens residing abroad. Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, who read out the patriarch's address, expressed a conviction that Russia will help protect its compatriots' right for freedom of religious faith. The Moscow Patriarchate has 231 parishes in 40 countries.