Russian churches reunite

An 80-year schism between two Russian churches has ended, with a huge celebratory ceremony in Moscow.

Around 142 million people - 70 per cent of Russia's population - are counted as members of the Russian Orthodox Church and ties have now been re-established with their exiled compatriots, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

The exiled church was proclaimed in Serbia in 1922, by bishops and clerics exiled after the Bolshevik Revolution and civil war.

After the leader of the Russian church, Patriarch Sergiy, professed loyalty to the (atheist) Communists in 1927, links were cut between the two churches, beginning the schism.

The reunion was presided over by Patriarch Alexy II and Metropolitan Larvy, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, with president Vladimir Putin in attendance.

The unifying document proclaimed an end to the schism, stating: "By this act, canonical communion within the Russian Orthodox Church is hereby restored."

Reunification talks began tentatively in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and took a big step towards completion in 2006 when the Russian Orthodox Church sanctioned the elevation to sainthood of the murdered Tsar Nicholas II and his family, reports the BBC.