Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin have packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a night-time Easter service
Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a night-time Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.
The traditional sung service begun late Saturday, with Kirill delivering well-wishes to Orthodox believers which were broadcast on Russian TV. A procession of white-robed clergy then circled the vast cathedral, rebuilt in post-Soviet times and widely seen as symbolic of Russia’s rejection of its atheist past, as they swung smoking incense censers and chanted the liturgy.
Most Western churches observed Easter on March 31, but the Russian Orthodox Church follows a different calendar.
