A Moscow priest who was shot down by a masked gunman last week was laid to rest at a church cemetery in the capital's west amid tight security.
Relatives and more than 100 other people came to the funeral ceremony holding flowers and candles to pay their last respects to Father Daniil Sysoyev, who was shot down in his church on Thursday evening.
Some 30 police and other security officers were deployed to ensure safety as investigators are looking into religious hatred as the main theory behind the crime.
Sysoyev was known for his active missionary work in converting Muslims and people seeking to quit religious sects into Christianity. He had received numerous death threats.
The body was brought to the Kuntsevo cemetery following a service at the Peter and Paul Church in the southwest of Moscow, with people lining up outside the church to pay their last tribute.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, attended the service and urged others to carry on Sysoyev's missionary efforts.
Speaking by the coffin during the services, Kirill said: "Being unable to offer any wise arguments against a priest's words in their mind and heart, and going against God's word, they cover him with libel and even raise their hand at him."
The patriarch praised Sysoyev's speeches in debates, but said his death could be "the strongest word he had ever pronounced."
Shortly after Sysoyev's murder, Kirill warned against any hasty accusations until the killer has been identified.
Some Russian lawmakers have asked for more information on the religious groups, from which Sysoyev helped members leave, to consider measures to restrict foreign religious organizations' activities in Russia, as well as questioned the Constitutional Court's decision to prolong a moratorium on the death penalty.
The murder also stirred a wave of condemnation from all religious groups in Russia, and demands to ensure better security for the clergy.
President Dmitry Medvedev described the killing of the priest on Monday as "an extremely severe crime."
The priest, who died at 34, is survived by his wife and three children.
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)
