November 12, 1996 - Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, is in Uzbekistan to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the establishment of two eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church in Uzbekistan, ITAR-TASS reported on November 11. Uzbek President Islam Karimov told Aleksei that new churches had been built in Bukhara, Kashkadarya, and Syrdarya and that the St. Aleksei Church in Samarkand had recently been renovated. Aleksii said the visit was intended to "extend spiritual and moral support to the Orthodox believers who have found themselves beyond the boundaries of Russia."