Monument to Patriarch Alexy II unveiled in Estonian Jõhvi

In the city of Jikhvi (Estonia), the opening ceremony of the monument to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II took place. The sculptural image was installed in the courtyard of the church in honor of the Epiphany of the Lord, the rector of which was the future Patriarch Alexy II for a long time.

“From April 1950 to July 1957, the future Patriarch Alexy II served as rector of the Epiphany Church in Jõhvi. A bust of Alexy II on a marble pedestal was installed in the courtyard of the church in honor of the 125th anniversary of the consecration of the Jõhvi Epiphany Church, ”reports the Estonian broadcasting portal ERR.
The author of the monument was the Ukrainian sculptor Eldaniz Gurbanov. On the day of the solemn opening of the monument, believers from different parishes of the city gathered to honor the memory of Patriarch Alexy II with a common prayer at the courtyard of the Epiphany Church; among them were those who personally remember the ministry of the future primate of the Russian Church.
The Jõhvi monument is the second monument in Estonia to commemorate Patriarch Alexy II. The first one is located in his hometown - Tallinn. In the capital of the country, the name of the patriarch also bears the square near the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God 'Quick to Hearken', on which the monument was erected in the fall of 2012.
Let us remind you that the future patriarch, Aleksey Ridiger, was born and lived in Estonia for a long time. For thirty years he headed the Tallinn diocese, and in 1990 he became the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which he nursed until his departure to the Lord God in 2008.