He was born to a pious family in 1910 in the village of Kobylino, Kaluga Governorate, in the town of Bogorodsk near Moscow. On December 5, 1925, he became a monk at Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. He spent years in various Russian monasteries and cathedrals, in Murom, Odessa and Pskov. In 1954 Pimen became namestnik of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. On November 17, 1957, in Odessa, he was consecrated bishop of Balta, vicar of the Diocese of Odessa. Beginning December 26, 1957, he was bishop of Dmitrov, vicar of the Moscow diocese. From July 1960 to November 14, 1961, he was Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate. On November 23, 1960, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. On March 16, 1961, he became archbishop of Tula and Belyov. On November 14, 1961, he was appointed Metropolitan of Leningrad and Ladoga. After the death of Patriarch Alexius I in 1970, Metropolitan Pimen was chosen Patriarchal Locum Tenens, essentially a temporary replacement. Because 1970 was the centennial of Lenin's birth, Soviet authorities did not want a church council to select a new Patriarch during that year. A Local Council was opened May 30, 1971. On June 2, 1971, the final day of the Council, Metropolitan Pimen was elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. He was enthroned on June 3 of that year. Pimen's task was to lead a Christian church in a state ruled by an officially atheistCommunist party. In his post, he worked closely with the Communist authorities, participating in numerous "peace movement" conferences sponsored by the government. Pimen was awarded the Soviet Peace Fund Medal and, in 1970, the Gold Medal "Борцу за мир" by the 'Soviet Committee for the Defence of Peace'. Pimen was a member of the World Peace Council from 1963 onwards. In 1961, Pimen was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, one of the highest awards of the time. Near the end of his difficult term as head of the Russian Orthodox Church, he organized the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus' in 1988. This event coincided with political reforms that ended much of the Communist party's anti-religious activity, and the church celebration was seen as marking the end of the persecution of Orthodox Christianity in the Soviet Union. When Patriarch Pimen died in 1990, the government made no effort to influence the choice of his successor.
