TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, ended his first visit to Estonia in a decade Tuesday -- a five-day trip that signaled a thaw in the sometimes frosty relations
between Russia and the ex-Soviet republic.
The 74-year-old Russian spiritual leader's visit, however, did not appear to resolve outstanding issues surrounding the status of Orthodox faithful in the Baltic Sea country of 1.4 million people, a dispute that
once threatened to split Orthodox Christians worldwide.
Just hours before leaving Estonia, Alexy met with a representative from the Turkish Patriarchate in Istanbul -- which has sparred with the Moscow Patriarchate over who has jurisdiction here -- an unscheduled encounter that was a rare conciliatory gesture.
While Estonians viewed him as an emissary of the Russian government,Alexy tried to avoid politics -- billing his visit as a homecoming. He was born and raised in Estonia during its first period of independence,from 1920-1940, when religion in Russia was suppressed by Josef Stalin.
"I feel Estonia's my homeland and these days here were very happy ones," Alexy, in flowing black robes and gripping a gold-handled staff,said in Estonian after meeting President Arnold Ruutel Monday.
Earlier, he said prayers over the graves of his mother and father in a cemetery in the capital, Tallinn, and held services at the hilltop, onion-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral -- where 1,000 devotees squeezed into the 100-year-old church to hear him say the liturgy.
Estonia's government rolled out the red carpet for Alexy, eager to signal to the Kremlin that any desire for better relations was mutual.Estonia in the past has accused Moscow of trying to bully it, while Russia has alleged that Estonia discriminates against the population's Russian minority.
Ruutel held a lavish state dinner in the Patriarch's honor and gave him Estonia's Maarjamaa Cross, a major national award granted to just a handful of foreigners since the country regained independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The visit wasn't tension-free, however.
Some Estonian politicians blasted the decision to bestow the award upon Alexy, citing claims he once had close links to the KGB.
And conspicuously absent from his itinerary were services with thousands of Orthodox here, mostly ethnic Estonians, who a decade ago switched their allegiance to the Patriarchate in Istanbul led by Patriarch Bartholomew.
Ethnic Russians stayed loyal to Alexy and the Moscow Patriarchate.
There are only about 150,000 Orthodox in Estonia, compared to over 150 million Orthodox globally. There are fewer than 50,000 ethnic-Estonian and over 100,000 ethnic-Russian Orthodox. Most ethnic Estonians, the majority in the Baltic state, are Lutheran.
The decision nearly created a schism, with Alexy decrying in 1996 the "tragic division of Orthodoxy." Many Estonians believers argued that Alexy was too close to the Kremlin.
That year, Alexy prohibited Russian clergy from holding services anywhere in the world with priests subordinate to Bartholomew -- though he rescinded the rule weeks later.
As he arrived in Estonia last week, Alexy reportedly rejected suggestions that he preside over a joint service for all Orthodox -- as a way to help heal lingering bitterness between the two Orthodox branches.
But in a surprise move, Alexy did accept an invitation to sit down with the head of the Estonian-dominated Orthodox Church in Estonia,Metropolitan Stephanos.
"I invited him and there was no answer at first, but at ... the last moment, he came to see me," Stephanos told The Associated Press after the meeting ended. "It was very positive that we had contact -- and for a full hour."
He expressed his hope to find a "solution to our problems" to Alexy.

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