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As the 80th birthday of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod’ has been widely marked in these days, the office for the repose of his soul was said on 18 October 2009 at the Parish of the Intercession in Dusseldorf in the Russian Orthodox Church representation in Germany.

According to the representation’s press service, addressing the Orthodox faithful in Dusseldorf before the service, His Grace Longing said in particular, ‘His Eminence Nikodim was one of those spiritual leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church at the communist time who saw clearly how the Church should be governed at a time when the country was ruled by atheists. For instance, he gave much attention to the spiritual formation young people, many of whom became monks and later bishops, for he saw in young clergy the support of the Church… Despite the outrage of the authorities, he often ran risks in implementing his decisions which were always aimed to benefit the Church. It was thanks to him that Leningrad Seminary and Academy were not closed’.