Moscow, Russia - The Russian Orthodox Church has begun the final stage of electing a new leader to succeed Patriarch Alexiy II, who died last month.
More than 700 clerics and lay people have assembled in Moscow to choose from among the three candidates.
They are: Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk and Metropolitan Filaret from Minsk.
Kirill has been the acting head of the Church and is considered the favourite.
Declining church attendance
This is an election without precedent.
The last time the Russian Orthodox Church chose a leader was in 1990, when the Soviet Union still existed.
Since then, Russia has changed beyond recognition, and the Orthodox Church in Russia has been reunited with the Church outside the country.
That was one of the achievements of Patriarch Alexiy II.
Kirill polled the highest number of votes in the first round of voting among church leaders on Sunday, but observers say that is no guarantee of eventual success.
Metropolitan Kirill has already highlighted one of the great challenges facing the church.
While some two-thirds of Russians describe themselves as Orthodox Christians, far, far, fewer regularly attend services.
Speaking to the Trud newspaper, Kirill noted "millions of people have been baptized, and consider themselves Orthodox Christian. But the degree of their observance leaves much to be desired."