On 10 June, the Orthodox Church of Russia celebrated the 15th anniversary of Alexis II as head of the Patriarchate of Moscow. The Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Alexis was elected Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia on 7 June 1990 by the local Council of the bishops and representatives of the clergy and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three days later Alexis was enthroned in the Cathedral of Moscow. On 9 June of this year, feast of the Ascension, Alexis II celebrated a divine liturgy and on the following day, accompanied by many metropolitans, went to pay homage to the tombs of his predecessors in the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin.
