The Russian Patriarch has given awards to Dmitry Medvedev, Cannes Golden Palm winner Emir Kusturica and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II.
The ceremony took place in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, with the winners getting a cash prize of up to $50,000. The awards were handed out to those who had helped to build ties within Orthodox Christianity.
This year's prize has been named in honor of the late Patriarch Aleksey II, who struggled to drag the church out of the communist era.