Moscow - Tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers paid their last respects Monday to Patriarch Alexi II who died on Friday at the age of 79.

People, many carrying white roses - Alexi's favourite flower - spent hours standing in line in the rain for a chance to file past the the patriarch's body lying in state at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, when Alexi's remains will be buried in the Ephiphany Cathedral in Moscow.

Numerous church dignitaries and foreign politicians were expected to attend the funeral.

The Vatican is sending Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is in charge of ecumenical affairs for the Roman Catholic Church, while Serbian President Boris Tadic and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko were also scheduled to attend, reports in Moscow said.

Alexi II was the head of the church in Russia since 1990. Born Alexei Ruediger, he had ethnic ties to Germany and the Baltic region.