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GV cathedral
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2.
SV PAN Papal representative enters
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SCU PAN Archbishop Makarios
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GV PAN interior congregation and priests (2 shots)
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SV & LV Piemen arrives (2 shots)
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CU & LV Piemen is assisted in removing vestment and assuming Patriarch's vestment (6 shots)
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CU churchman watches
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SV & CU new Patriarch conducts service (4 shots).
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Initials PS/1.16 PS/2.11



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Background: Metropolitan Piemen of Krutitsy and Kolomna formally became the fourth Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church since the fall of the Tsars when he was enthroned in Moscow on Thursday.

He was elected unanimously the previous day at the end of a four-day meeting in Zagorsk, north-east of Moscow, of the Church's special council of Church leaders, priests and laymen. Patriarch Piemen succeeds Patriarch Alexii, who died in April last year.

Peter the Great abolished the Patriarchate in 1971 in a bid to curb the power of the Church, and it was only after the fall of Tsarist rule in 1917 that it was restored.

Patriarch Tikhon secured his position in 1922 with a pledge not to oppose Soviet power. He died in 1925, and the Patriarchate was vacant until 1943, when Josef Stalin allowed a Church Council to convene, after the Church has given its support to the war effort against Nazi Germany.

This film of the enthronement ceremony was shot by Soviet Television.

SYNOPSIS: The enthronement took place in Moscow's Bogoyavlensky cathedral on Thursday of the fourth Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, since the fall of the Tsars.

The enthronement brought together a distinguished international gathering of churchmen including Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus, who has been having talks with Soviet leaders in the course of an official visit, and Cardinal Willebrands, head of the Vatican secretariat.

Delegates of foreign and non-orthodox Churches sat in the front of the congregation, which received a blessing before the ceremony began from Archbishop Makarios.

The new Patriarch, elected unanimously on Wednesday by a special council of Church leaders, priests and laymen, is Metropolitan Piemen of Krutitsy and Kolomna. The new Patriarch succeeds Patriarch Alexii, who died in April last year. The sixty-year old prelate changed with the help of his retinue from blue and white robes to the golden robe of the Patriarch, as part of the ceremony.

Many young priests officiated in the service, but those attending the Patriarch included a number of bearded and often very old seniors.

Choirs chanted throughout the ceremony, creating a most moving atmosphere.

The enthronement took place in stifling heat, and lasted four hours, while outside police prevented crowds of people from going near the Cathedral approaches. The Russian Orthodox Church has continued under Soviet rule, although the Patriarchate was vacant between 1925 and 1943. Joseph Stalin then allowed a Church Council to reconvene, after the Church had given its support to the war effort against Nazi Germany.