The Russian Orthodox Church has opened voting to lay people as well as clerics in the final stage of electing a new leader to succeed Patriarch Alexiy II, who died last month.
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been the acting head of the Church and is considered the favourite.
Metropolitan Kirill has already highlighted one of the great challenges facing the church. While some two-thirds of Russians describe themselves as Orthodox Christians, far, far, fewer regularly attend services.
Speaking to the Trud newspaper, Kirill noted "millions of people have been baptized, and consider themselves Orthodox Christian. But the degree of their observance leaves much to be desired."
from the BBC
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been the acting head of the Church and is considered the favourite.
Metropolitan Kirill has already highlighted one of the great challenges facing the church. While some two-thirds of Russians describe themselves as Orthodox Christians, far, far, fewer regularly attend services.
Speaking to the Trud newspaper, Kirill noted "millions of people have been baptized, and consider themselves Orthodox Christian. But the degree of their observance leaves much to be desired."
from the BBC