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'''Patriarch Alexei I '''(Sergey Simansky) (Russian: Патриарх Алексий I (, secular name '''Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky''', Сергей Владимирович Симанский) (; [[October 27]], 1877 – [[April 17]], 1970), was the 14th [[List of primates of Russia|Patriarch of Moscow]] and all of Russia, head of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] between 1945 and 1970.

Born in Moscow to a noble family, his father was a Russian Royal House Chamberlain. In 1899 graduated from Moscow Imperial University with a law degree; was conscripted by the army and served in a grenadier regiment. In 1902 enrolled at Moscow Theological Academy and by [[1906]] became [[archimandrite]] and rector of [[W:Tula, Russia|Tula]] seminary.

After the [[w:October_Revolution|Bolshevik Revolution ]] he was arrested several times and in 1922 exiled to Kazakhstan. In 1926 he returned to Leningrad and was appointed [[Archbishop ]] of Khutyn, that is, the vicar of the Novgorodian [[diocese]]. He ran the diocese for much of the next seven years while [[Metropolitan Arsenii ]] [[Arsenius (Stadnitsky) of Novgorod|Arsenius (Stadnitsky)]] was in prison or exile. In 1933 Alexei was briefly Archbishop of [[Novgorod ]] (for several months) and then [[Metropolitan]] of Leningrad.

On [[September 4]], 1943 , Alexei I together with a delegation of senior Russian Orthodox clerics met with Joseph Stalin in the Kremlin where a historic decision was made regarding the fate of the Church in the state ruled by the militantly atheist Communist party. In the midst of World War II , Stalin decided to allow the Russian Orthodox Church to function after two decades of severe persecution. The Patriarchate of Moscow was re-established and many churches throughout the Soviet Union were re-opened. Stalin tried to appeal to patriotic feelings of the Russian people especially peasantry (the backbone of the Red Army) , many of whom grew up in still deeply religious families.

On [[February 2]], 1945 Alexei I was elected Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia. In 1946]] Alexei I presided over the controversial "re-unification" of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with ROC the Russian Orthodox Church which was seen by many as a takeover forced by the Stalinist government. After 1958 , Russian Christians led by patriarch Alexei I had to endure a new wave of persecution, mostly carried out through closing down of churches by new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Alexei died of a myocardial infarction]] at the age of 92 in 1970 and was buried in the Trinity-St Sergius Monastery ([[Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra]]). ==Source==[[w:Patriarch Alexius I|Wikipedia: Patriarch Alexius I]]

before=?|title=Archbishop of Khutyn<br>vicar Diocese of Novgorod|years=1926-1933|after=?}}{{succession|before=[[Arsenius (Stadnitsky) of Novgorod|Arsenius (Stadnitsky)]]|title=[[List of bishops of the Diocese of Novgorod|Archbishop of Novgorod]]|years=1933-1933 (two months)|after=Benedict (Plotnikov)}}{{succession|before=[[Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad|Seraphim (Chichagov)]]|title=[[Eparchy of St. Petersburg|Metropolitan of Leningrad]]|years=1933-1945|after=[[Grigory (Chukov) of Leningrad|Grigory (Chukov)]]}}{{succession|before=[[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Sergius (Stragorsky)]]|title=[[Church List of primates of Russia|Patriarch of Moscow]]|

after=[[Pimen I (Izvekov) of Moscow|Pimen (Izvekov)]]}}