The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church was held in Moscow

On January 25, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church was held in Moscow. Candidates for the Moscow Patriarchal Throne were approved at the council. They were Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (97 votes), Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk (32 votes) and Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk (16 votes).

In total, 198 out of 202 bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate took part in the voting.

The meetings were also planned to be held on January 26, but since the agenda of the Council was exhausted, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Kirill, said that there was no need to continue the work of the council.

Sources

• Bishops' Council completed its work // Interfax-religion. 2009. January 25.
• Metropolitans Kirill, Kliment and Filaret became candidates for the Moscow Patriarchal Throne // There. 2009. January 25.