Patriarch Alexy congratulates Boris Yeltsin on the 75th birthday

On 2 February 2006, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia met with Boris Yeltsin and congratulated him on his 75^th birthday.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church decorated B. Yeltsin with the order of St. Dimitry of Don, the 1^st class, for his contribution to the development of church-state relations and in connection with his 75^th birthday.

The patriarchal greeting address reads: ‘ I heartily congratulate you on this important jubilee in your life – your 75^th birthday. You celebrate this blessed jubilee in the plenitude of your spiritual and physical strength among your relatives, associates and friends’, it reads.

‘It is very joyful to know that it is in many respects thanks to your personal participation that cooperation between state and the Russian Orthodox Church developed and strengthened. Our common efforts, aimed at restoration of shrines and formation of spiritually powerful and morally healthy Russian state, have brought good fruits. The spiritual revival of Russia that consolidated society took place when you headed the country. I hope that the spirit of trust and mutual understanding will characterize our relations in future, strengthening moral principles in life of society’, the patriarchal address further reads.