MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's patriarch will perform the first-ever joint service with the leader of the Orthodox Russians overseas later this year, to reconnect the two communities after an almost century-long split, the Moscow Patriarchy said Monday.
Patriarchy officials said Alexy II and Metropolitan Laurus of New York would perform the Holy Communion in a symbolic gesture aimed at restoring ties severed in the 1920s, after Russian Orthodox leaders forced out of the country by the Bolshevik revolution accused the Moscow Patriarchy of collaborating with the new regime.
The officials gave no specific date for the historic service, but said it could take place in the Moscow Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia attended three services in Moscow during his first official visit in 2004.
