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Alexius II
Church	Russian Orthodox Church
See	Moscow
Formal title	Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia
Birth name	Aleksei Ridiger
Patriarchate began	June 10, 1990
Patriarchate ended	Incumbent
Predecessor	Patriarch Pimen I
Born	February 23, 1929 Tallinn, Estonia

Patriarch Alexius II (born February 23, 1929) is the 16th and current Patriarch of Moscow and the spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He was born as Aleksei Ridiger (Russian: Aleksej Michajlovič Ridiger, Алексей Михайлович Ридигер) in Tallinn, Estonia, to the family of Russian emigrants; he is a descendant of the German Baltic noble family of von Rüdiger, a branch of which adopted Orthodoxy in the 18th century. He graduated from Leningrad clerical seminary in 1949; was ordained deacon in 1950 (and later, a priest and monk); graduated from Leningrad clerical academy in 1953. On August 14, 1961, he was chosen to be the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia. On June 23, 1964, he was promoted to archbishop; and, on February 25, 1968, at the age of 39 to metropolitan. From 1986 until his election as Patriarch, he was Metropolitan of Novgorod and Leningrad. After the death of Patriarch Pimen I in 1990 Alexei was chosen to become the new Patriarch of The Russian Orthodox Church.

Despite his age, Patriarch Alexius II is very healthy and leads an active pastoral life. He's frequently seen on Russian TV, meeting with politicians.

Relatively little is known about his personal life. The Patriarchal residence is located in Peredelkino, a suburb of Moscow; it includes a 350 year old restored church, a museum, and a three-story house. There is also a winter residence - an apartment in the center of Moscow. Both residences act as living quarters and Patriarch's office at the same time. He commutes in an armored car under the protection of federal agents. Being a monk, Patriarch Alexius II is not allowed to possess any property himself; residences and cars are the property of the Moscow Patriarchate.

His name (secular 'Алексей, clerical Алексий) is transliterated from the Cyrillic alphabet into English in various forms, including Alexius, Alexei, and Alexy. When he became a monk, his name was not changed; this departure from custom was common in the Russian Church in Soviet times.

Modern fresco of the Donskoi Monastery, representing Alexius II bringing the relics of Patriarch Tikhon into the monastery.

• Patriarch Alexius II is alleged to have been a KGB agent during the Soviet era, according to documents smuggled out of Russia by Vasili Mitrokhin and published in England in 1999. Alexius' KGB code name according to Mitrokhin was Drozdov and he was recruited on February 28, 1958.[1] Another source states that the KGB awarded him an honorary citation in 1988.[2] The Russian Orthodox Church believes these documents were forged. However his work as a KGB agent has been independently confirmed by Gleb Yakunin and Yevgenia Albats who both were given access to KGB archives ^{[1] [2] [3]} According to former KGB officer Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy, Alexius II told Oleg Kalugin: “Why are you exaggerating what happened? Yes, we collaborated with the KGB, even I did. But it was a struggle for peace, for disarmament! There’s nothing wrong with that!”^[3]
• Patriarch Alexius II has consistently opposed the display of homosexuality in Russia, and in particular, opposed gay parades in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Church "has invariably supported the institution of the family and condemns untraditional relations, seeing them as a vicious deviation from God-given human nature," Alexius II writes.^[4]
• Alexius sparked further controversy in October 2007 when he called homosexuality an "illness" and a "distortion of the human personality like kleptomania".^[5][6]

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Patriarch Alexius II

• Andrew, Christopher and Vasili Mitrokhin. The Sword and the Shield : The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. New York : Basic Books, 1999. Chapter 28 deals with the KGB infiltration of Soviet-era churches.
• Knox, Zoe (December 2005). "Russian Orthodoxy, Russian nationalism, and Patriarch Aleksii II". Nationalities Papers 33 (4): 533-545. 

• (Russian) His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
• (English) His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
• photo gallery
• "Alexy II in France to meet Orthodox followers", Russia Today, October 1, 2007. 
• The Address of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia to the PACE