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Iglesia ortodoxa rusa fuera de Rusia Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей
George F. Baker Jr. house.jpg
Sede de ROCOR, 75 E 93rd St, Nueva York.
AbreviaturaROCOR
Clasificaciónortodoxo oriental
PrimatePatriarca de Moscú y Kirill
Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral de All Rus
IdiomaEslavo eclesiástico (culto),
ruso (predicación),
inglés (EE. UU., Canadá, Reino Unido, Irlanda, Australia, Nueva Zelanda),
español (España y América Latina),
alemán (Alemania),
francés (Francia, Suiza, Canadá),
indonesio (Indonesia),
criollo haitiano (Haití) y otros
SedePatriarcal: Moscú, Rusia
Jurisdiccional: Ciudad de Nueva York, NY
TerritorioAmérica
Europa
Australia
Nueva Zelanda
FundadorAnthony (Khrapovitsky)
Anastassy (Gribanovsky)
otros
Independencia1920
ReconocimientoSemi-autónomo por la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa
SeparacionesIglesia Autónoma Ortodoxa Rusa (1994, entonces llamada Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa en el Extranjero )
Miembros27,700 en los EE. UU. (9,000 asistentes regulares a la iglesia) [2] [1]
  • Estos números reflejan solo los supuestos adherentes estadounidenses. No tienen en cuenta los números de ROCOR en Australia, Alemania e Indonesia.
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El fuera de la iglesia ortodoxa rusa de Rusia ( Rusia : Русская Православная Церковь Заграницей , romanized :  Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey , lit.  'Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa en el Extranjero'), también llamada Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa en el extranjero o ROCOR , o Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa en el Extranjero ( ROCA ), es una parte semiautónoma de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa (Patriarcado de Moscú) .

La ROCOR se estableció a principios de la década de 1920 como una jurisdicción eclesiástica independiente de facto de la ortodoxia oriental , inicialmente debido a la falta de un enlace regular entre la autoridad central de la iglesia en Moscú y algunos obispos debido a su exilio voluntario después de la Guerra Civil Rusa . Estos obispos emigraron con otros rusos a ciudades y naciones de Europa occidental, como París y otras partes de Francia, y a Estados Unidos y otros países occidentales. Más tarde, estos obispos rechazaron la lealtad política incondicional del Patriarcado de Moscú al régimen bolchevique en la URSS . Esta lealtad fue promulgada formalmente por elDeclaración de 20 de julio de 1927 del metropolitano Sergio (Stragorodsky) , diputado patriarcal locum tenens . El metropolitano Antonio (Khrapovitsky) , de Kiev y Galicia , fue el Primer Jerarca fundador de la ROCOR. [2]

Después de 80 años de separación seguida de la caída de la Unión Soviética , el 17 de mayo de 2007, la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa Fuera de Rusia firmó oficialmente el Acta de Comunión Canónica con el Patriarcado de Moscú , restableciendo el vínculo canónico entre las iglesias. Esto resultó en una división que formó la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa en el Extranjero - Autoridad de la Iglesia Suprema Provisional  [ fr ] que permaneció independiente del Patriarcado de Moscú.

La jurisdicción de ROCOR tiene alrededor de 400 parroquias en todo el mundo y una membresía estimada de más de 400,000 personas. [3] De éstos, 232 parroquias y 10 monasterios están en los Estados Unidos; tienen 92.000 adherentes declarados y más de 9.000 asistentes regulares a la iglesia. [1] El ROCOR tiene 13 jerarcas, con monasterios masculinos y femeninos en los Estados Unidos , Canadá y las Américas ; Australia , Nueva Zelanda y Europa Occidental . [4]

Precursores e historia temprana [ editar ]

Ver también: Guerra civil rusa , Patriarca Tikhon de Moscú , Relaciones Rusia-Serbia y Persecución de cristianos en la Unión Soviética

En mayo de 1919, durante la Revolución Rusa, las fuerzas militares blancas bajo el mando del general Anton Denikin estaban alcanzando la cúspide de su éxito militar. En la ciudad rusa de Stavropol , entonces controlada por el Ejército Blanco, un grupo de obispos rusos organizó un organismo de administración eclesiástica, la Administración Temporal Superior de la Iglesia en el sureste de Rusia (en ruso : Временное высшее церковное управление Веостк-иие ). El 7 de noviembre (20 de noviembre) de 1920, Tikhon , Patriarca de Moscú, su Sínodo, y el Consejo Supremo de la Iglesia en Moscú emitieron una resolución conjunta, No. 362, instruyendo a todos los obispos cristianos ortodoxos rusos, en caso de que no pudieran mantener el enlace con la Administración Suprema de la Iglesia en Moscú, a buscar protección y orientación organizándose entre ellos mismos. La resolución fue interpretada como una legitimación efectiva de la Administración Superior Temporal de la Iglesia y sirvió como base legal para el eventual establecimiento de un cuerpo eclesiástico completamente independiente. [5]

En noviembre de 1920, después de la derrota final del ejército ruso en el sur de Rusia , varios obispos rusos fueron evacuados de Crimea a Constantinopla , luego ocupada por fuerzas británicas , francesas e italianas . Después de enterarse de que el general Pyotr Wrangel tenía la intención de mantener su ejército, también decidieron mantener la organización eclesiástica rusa como una entidad separada en el extranjero. La Autoridad de la Iglesia Temporal se reunió el 19 de noviembre de 1920 a bordo del barco Gran Duque Alexader Mikhailovich (en ruso : «Великий князь Александр Михайлович» ), presidido por el metropolitano Antonio (Khrapovitsky). El metropolitano Antonio y el obispo Benjamín (Fedchenkov) fueron designados para examinar la canonicidad de la organización. El 2 de diciembre de 1920, recibieron permiso del metropolitano Dorotheos de Prusia, Locum Tenens del Patriarcado Ecuménico de Constantinopla , para establecerse "con el propósito de servir a la población [...] y supervisar la vida eclesiástica de las colonias rusas en Los países ortodoxos un comité temporal (epitropia) bajo la autoridad del Patriarcado Ecuménico "; el comité se denominó Administración Temporal Superior de la Iglesia en el Extranjero (THCAA).

En Karlovci [ editar ]

El 14 de febrero de 1921, el metropolitano Antonio (Khrapovitsky) se instaló en la ciudad de Sremski Karlovci , Serbia (entonces dentro del Reino de Yugoslavia), donde se le otorgó el palacio de los antiguos Patriarcas de Karlovci (el Patriarcado de Karlovci había sido abolido en 1920). . [6] En los meses siguientes, por invitación del Patriarca Dimitrije de Serbia, los otros ocho obispos de la THCAA, incluidos Anastasio (Gribanovsky) y Benjamín (Fedchenkov) , así como numerosos sacerdotes y monjes, se trasladaron a Serbia. [7] El 31 de agosto de 1921, el Concilio de Obispos de la Iglesia Serbiaaprobó una resolución, efectiva a partir del 3 de octubre, reconociendo a la THCAA como una jurisdicción administrativamente independiente para el clero ruso exiliado fuera del Reino de Yugoslavia (SHS), así como para aquellos clérigos rusos en el Reino que no estaban en el servicio educativo parroquial o estatal. Posteriormente, la jurisdicción de la THCAA se amplió a la audiencia de casos de divorcio de rusos exiliados. [6]

Sergey Paleolog, el general Pyotr Wrangel , el metropolitano Anthony (Khrapovitsky) , el arzobispo Anastasius (Gribanovsky) , Olga Wrangel y el arcipreste Peter Belovidov en Topčider , Belgrado. Pascua , abril de 1927

Con el acuerdo del Patriarca Dimitrije de Serbia, entre el 21 de noviembre y el 2 de diciembre de 1921, se celebró en Sremski Karlovci la "Asamblea General de representantes de la Iglesia rusa en el extranjero" (en ruso : Всезаграничное Русское Церковное Собрание ). Más tarde fue rebautizado como el "Primer Consejo de toda la diáspora" y fue presidido por el metropolitano Anthony.

El Concilio estableció la "Administración Eclesiástica Suprema en el Extranjero" (SEAA), compuesta por un Locum Tenens patriarcal, un Sínodo de Obispos y un Concilio de la Iglesia. El Consejo decidió nombrar al Metropolitano Anthony como Locum Tenens, pero él se negó a aceptar el puesto sin el permiso de Moscú y, en cambio, se identificó como el presidente de la SEAA. El Consejo aprobó una serie de resoluciones y llamamientos (misivas), los dos más notables se dirigieron al rebaño de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa ″ en diáspora y exilio ″ («Чадам Русской Православной Церкви, в рассеянии ии, в рассеянии ии a la Conferencia Internacional de 1922 en Génova . El primero, aprobado por mayoría de votos (pero no por unanimidad, el metropolitano Eulogius Georgiyevskysiendo el crítico más prominente de tales declaraciones políticas específicas), proclamó expresamente un objetivo político de restaurar la monarquía en Rusia con un zar de la Casa Romanov . [8] El llamamiento a la Conferencia de Génova, que se publicó en 1922, llamaba a las potencias mundiales a intervenir y "ayudar a desterrar el bolchevismo" de Rusia. [9] La mayoría de los miembros del Consejo decidió en secreto solicitar que el Gran Duque Nicolás Nikolaevich encabezara el movimiento monárquico ruso en el exilio. (Pero, de acuerdo con las leyes del Imperio Ruso, el miembro masculino superviviente de mayor rango de los Romanov fue Kirill Vladimirovich , y en agosto de 1924 se proclamó a sí mismo como elEmperador ruso en el exilio.) [10]

El patriarca Tikhon dirigió un decreto del 5 de mayo de 1922 al metropolitano Eulogius Georgiyevsky , aboliendo la SEAA y declarando que las decisiones políticas del Consejo de Karlovci estaban en contra de la posición de la Iglesia rusa. Tikhon nombró al metropolita Eulogius administrador de las “iglesias ortodoxas rusas en el extranjero”. [11] Reunido en Sremski Karlovci el 2 de septiembre de 1922, de conformidad con el decreto de Tikhon, el Concilio de Obispos abolió la SEAA, en su lugar formando el Santo Sínodo Temporal de Obispos de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa Fuera de Rusia, con el Metropolitano Anthony a la cabeza por virtud de la antigüedad. Este Sínodo ejerció autoridad directa sobre las parroquias rusas en los Balcanes, el Medio Oriente y el Lejano Oriente.

En América del Norte, sin embargo, se desarrolló un conflicto entre los obispos que no reconocieron la autoridad del Sínodo, dirigido por el Metropolitano Platon (Rozhdestvensky); este grupo formó la Metropolia americana , la predecesora de la OCA . En Europa occidental, el metropolitano Eulogius (Georgievsky) , con sede en París desde finales de 1922, hizo lo mismo, afirmando que el Sínodo era una mera "autoridad moral". El metropolitano Eulogius se separó más tarde de la República de China y en febrero de 1931 se unió al Patriarcado Ecuménico . Este acto fundamental formó el Exarcado Patriarcal de las Parroquias Ortodoxas de la Tradición Rusa en Europa Occidental .

El 5 de septiembre de 1927, el Concilio de Obispos de Sremski Karlovci, presidido por el metropolitano Anthony, decretó una ruptura formal del vínculo con la ″ autoridad eclesiástica de Moscú ″. Rechazaron una demanda del metropolitano Sergio (Stragorodsky) de Nizhny Novgorod, en nombre de Locum Tenens (Metropolita Pedro de Krutitsy , encarcelado entonces en el Gulag soviético , donde más tarde murió), para declarar lealtad política a las autoridades soviéticas. El Consejo de Obispos dijo que la administración de la iglesia en Moscú, encabezada por el Metropolita Sergio (Stragorodsky), fue "esclavizado por el poder soviético sin Dios que se ha privado de la libertad en su expresión de la voluntad y la gobernabilidad canónica de la Iglesia." [12]

Mientras rechazaba tanto a los bolcheviques como al líder de facto de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa, el metropolitano Sergio (que en 1943 sería elegido Patriarca ), la ROCOR continuó reconociendo nominalmente la autoridad del metropolitano Pedro de Krutitsy encarcelado . El 9 de septiembre, el Concilio declaró: "La parte de la Iglesia rusa que se encuentra en el extranjero se considera una rama inseparable y espiritualmente unida de la gran Iglesia rusa. No se separa de su Iglesia Madre y no se considera autocéfala . " [13]Mientras tanto, dentro de la URSS, la Declaración del Metropolitano Sergio provocó un cisma entre el rebaño de la Iglesia del Patriarca. Muchos creyentes disidentes rompieron lazos con el metropolitano Sergio. [3] [14]

El 22 de junio de 1934, el Metropolitano Sergio y su Sínodo en Moscú emitieron un juicio sobre el Metropolitano Anthony y su Sínodo, declarándolos suspendidos. [15] El metropolitano Anthony se negó a reconocer esta decisión, alegando que se tomó bajo presión política de las autoridades soviéticas y que el metropolitano Sergio había usurpado ilegalmente la posición de Locum Tenens. En esto fue apoyado por el Patriarca Varnava de Serbia, quien continuó manteniendo la comunión con el Sínodo ROCOR. Sin embargo, el Patriarca Varnava también intentó mediar entre el Sínodo de Karlovci y el Metropolitano Sergio en Moscú, y encontrar una forma canónicamente legítima de resolver la disputa. A principios de 1934, había enviado una carta a Sergio proponiendo que los obispos de Karlovci fueran transferidos a la jurisdicción de laIglesia Serbia ; Sergio rechazó la propuesta. Sergio continuó exigiendo que todo el clero ruso fuera de la URSS prometiera lealtad a las autoridades soviéticas. [16] Los intentos del patriarca Varnava a mediados de la década de 1930 de reconciliar las jurisdicciones rusas rivales en el exilio tampoco tuvieron éxito. [17]

Iglesia rusa de la Santísima Trinidad en Belgrado , Serbia ,
construida en 1924 por emigrantes rusos.

After the deaths of Metropolitan Anthony in August 1936 and Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy in October 1937 (albeit falsely reported a year prior), the Russian bishops in exile held the Second All-Diaspora Council, first in Belgrade, then in Sremski Karlovci, in August 1938.[18] The Council was presided over by Metropolitan Anastasius (Gribanovsky), and was attended by 12 other exiled Russian bishops (at least double the number of Orthodox (Patriarchal) bishops who were allowed to serve within the USSR), 26 priests, and 58 laypersons.[19][20] The Council confirmed the leading role of the Church and its bishops in Russian emigré organizations, and adopted two missives: to Russians in the USSR (Russian: «К Русскому народу в Отечестве страждущему») and to the Russian flock in diaspora (Russian: «К Русской пастве в рассеянии сущей»).[21]

From February 1938, Germany′s authorities demanded that all the Russian clergy in the territories controlled by Germany be under the Karlovci jurisdiction (as opposed to that of Paris-based Eulogius). They insisted that an ethnic German, Seraphim Lade, be put in charge of the Orthodox diocese of Berlin.[22]

During World War II and after[edit]

See also: Eastern Front (World War II)
Timeline of the separations of the ROCOR and some other churches from the ROC

The relationship between members of the ROCOR and the Nazis in the run-up to and during World War II has been an issue addressed by both the Church and its critics. Metropolitan Anastassy wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler in 1938, thanking him for his aid to the Russian Diaspora in allowing them to build a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Berlin and praising his patriotism.[23] This has been defended as an act that occurred when the Metropolitan and others in the church knew "little …of the inner workings of the Third Reich."[24] At the ROCOR Second Church History Conference in 2002, a paper said that “the attempt of the Nazi leadership to divide the Church into separate and even inimical church formations was met with internal church opposition.”[25]

Meanwhile, the USSR leadership's policies towards religion in general, as well as policy towards the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction in the USSR, changed significantly. In early September 1943, Joseph Stalin met at the Kremlin with a group of three surviving ROC metropolitans headed by Sergius (Stragorodsky). He allowed the Moscow Patriarchate to convene a council and elect a Patriarch, open theological schools, and reopen a few previously closed major monasteries and some churches (said institutions had been reopened in territory occupied by Germany).[26] The Soviet government decisively sided with the Moscow Patriarchate, while the so-called Obnovlentsi ("Renovationists," i.e. the modernist, pro-Soviet current in the ROC), previously favored by the authorities, were sidelined; their proponents were disappeared shortly after. These developments did not change the mutual rejection between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR leaderships.

Days after the election in September 1943 of Sergius (Stragorodsky) as Patriarch in Moscow, Metropolitan Anastasius (Gribanovsky) made a statement against recognizing his election. Thus, the German authorities allowed the ROCOR Synod to hold a convention in Vienna, which took place on 21—26 October 1943. The Synod adopted a resolution declaring the election of Patriarch in Moscow to be uncanonical and hence invalid, and called on all Russian Orthodox faithful to fight against Communism.[27]

On 8 September 1944, days before Belgrade was taken by the Red Army, on the attack from the East, Metropolitan Anastasius (Gribanovsky), along with his office and the other bishops, left Serbia for Vienna.[28] A few months later, they moved to Munich; finally, in November 1950, they immigrated to the United States, together with numerous other Russian Orthodox refugees in the postwar period.

After the end of World War II, the Moscow Patriarchate was the globally dominant branch of Russian Orthodox Christianity. Countries whose Orthodox bishops had been part of the ROCOR in the interwar period, such as Yugoslavia, China, Bulgaria, and East Germany, were now within the USSR-led bloc, which rendered any activity by the ROCOR politically impossible. A number of ROCOR parishes and clergy, notably Eulogius (Georgiyevsky) (in a jurisdiction under the Ecumenical See since 1931), joined the Moscow Patriarchate, and some repatriated to the USSR.[29]

On the other hand, the ROCOR, by 1950 headquartered in New York, the United States, rejected both the Communist regime in the Soviet Union and the Moscow Patriarchate. Its leaders condemned the Moscow Patriarchate as a Soviet Church run by the secret police.[29]

Conflict with the Moscow Patriarchate after the USSR dissolution[edit]

After the end of the Soviet Union in December 1991, ROCOR continued to maintain its administrative independence from the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

In May 1990, months prior to the complete disintegration of the USSR, the ROCOR decided to establish new, "Free Russian" parishes in the USSR, and to consecrate bishops to oversee such parishes.

ROCOR and ROC conflict over Palestinian properties[edit]

Main article: Russian Orthodox Properties in Palestine

Until well after World War II, most of the Orthodox Church properties in Palestine were controlled by leaders opposed to both the Soviet rule and the Moscow Patriarchate, i.e. mainly within the ROCOR.[30]

When Israel became a state in 1948, it transferred all of the property under the control of the ROCOR within its borders to the Soviet-dominated Russian Orthodox Church in appreciation for Moscow's support of the Jewish state (this support was short-lived).[30] The ROCOR maintained control over churches and properties in the Jordanian-ruled West Bank until the late 1980s.[30] In January 1951, the Soviets reopened the Russian Palestine Society under the direction of Communist Party agents from Moscow, and replaced Archimandrite Vladimir with Ignaty Polikarp, who had been trained by Communists. They attracted numerous Christian Arabs to the ROC who had Communist sympathies. The members of other branches of Orthodoxy refused to associate with the Soviet-led ROC in Palestine.[31]

Decades later, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1997 Patriarch of Moscow Alexei II attempted to visit a ROCOR-held monastery in Hebron with Yasser Arafat. "The Moscow-based church has enjoyed a close relationship with Arafat since his guerrilla fighter days."[32] The ROCOR clergy refused to allow Arafat and the patriarch to enter the church, holding that Alexei had no legitimate authority. Two weeks later police officers of the Palestinian Authority arrived; they evicted the ROCOR clergy and turned the property over to the ROC.[30]

Alexei made another visit in early January 2000 to meet with Arafat, asking "for help in recovering church properties"[33] as part of a "worldwide campaign to recover properties lost to churches that split off during the Communist era".[34] Later that month the Palestinian Authority again acted to evict ROCOR clergy, this time from the 3-acre (12,000 m2) Monastery of Abraham's Oak in Hebron.[30][33]

Views on the Moscow Patriarchate, pre-reconciliation[edit]

After the declaration of Metropolitan Sergius of 1927, there were a range of opinions regarding the Moscow Patriarchate within ROCOR. A distinction must be made between the various opinions of bishops, clergy, and laity within ROCOR, and official statements from the Synod of Bishops. There was a general belief in ROCOR that the Soviet government was manipulating the Moscow Patriarchate to one extent or another, and that under such circumstances administrative ties were impossible. There were also official statements made that the elections of the patriarchs of Moscow which occurred after 1927 were invalid because they were not conducted freely (without the interference of the Soviets) or with the participation of the entire Russian Church.[35] However, these statements only declared that ROCOR did not recognize the Patriarchs of Moscow who were elected after 1927 as being the legitimate primates of the Russian Church—they did not declare that the Bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate were illegitimate bishops, or without grace. There were, however, under the umbrella of this general consensus, various opinions about the Moscow Patriarchate, ranging for those who held the extreme view that the Moscow Patriarchate had apostatized from the Church (those in the orbit of Holy Transfiguration Monastery being the most vocal advocates of this position), to those who considered them to be innocent sufferers at the hands of the Soviets, and all points in between. Advocates of the more extreme view of the Moscow Patriarchate became increasingly strident in the 1970s, at a time when ROCOR was increasingly isolating itself from much of the rest of the Orthodox Church due to concerns over the direction of Orthodox involvement in the Ecumenical Movement. Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, there wasn't a burning need to settle the question of what should be made of the status of the Moscow Patriarchate, although beginning in the mid-1980s (as the period of glasnost began in the Soviet Union, which culminated in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet government in 1991), these questions resulted in a number of schisms, and increasingly occupied the attention of those in ROCOR.

There are certain basic facts about the official position of ROCOR that should be understood. Historically, ROCOR has always affirmed that it was an inseparable part of the Russian Church, and that its autonomous status was only temporary, based upon Ukaz 362, until such time as the domination of the Soviet government over the affairs of the Church should cease:

"The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is an indissoluble part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and for the time until the extermination in Russia of the atheist government, is self-governing on conciliar principles in accordance with the resolution of the Patriarch, the Most Holy Synod, and the Highest Church Council [Sobor] of the Russian Church dated 7/20 November 1920, No. 362."[36]

Similarly, Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky) wrote in his Last Will and Testament:

"As regards the Moscow Patriarchate and its hierarchs, then, so long as they continue in close, active and benevolent cooperation with the Soviet Government, which openly professes its complete godlessness and strives to implant atheism in the entire Russian nation, then the Church Abroad, maintaining Her purity, must not have any canonical, liturgical or even simply external communion with them whatsoever, leaving each one of them at the same time to the final judgment of the Council (Sobor) of the future free Russian Church."[37]

ROCOR viewed the Russian Church as consisting of three parts during the Soviet period: 1. The Moscow Patriarchate, 2. the Catacomb Church, and 3. The Free Russian Church (ROCOR). The Catacomb Church had been a significant part of the Russian Church prior to World War II. Most of those in ROCOR had left Russia during or well before World War II. They were unaware of the changes that had occurred immediately after World War II—most significantly that with the election of Patriarch Alexei I, most of the Catacomb Church was reconciled with the Moscow Patriarchate. By the 1970s, due to this reconciliation, as well as to continued persecution by the Soviets, there was very little left of the Catacomb Church. Alexander Solzhenitsyn made this point in a letter to the 1974 All-Diaspora Sobor of ROCOR, in which he stated that ROCOR should not "show solidarity with a mysterious, sinless, but also bodiless catacomb."[38]

Movement toward reconciliation with the Moscow Patriarchate[edit]

In 2000 Metropolitan Laurus became the First Hierarch of the ROCOR; he expressed interest in the idea of reunification. At the time ROCOR insisted that the Moscow Patriarchate address the murders of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in 1918 by the Bolsheviks. The ROCOR held that "the Moscow Patriarchy must speak clearly and passionately about the murder of the tsar's family, the defeat of the anti-Bolshevik movement, and the execution and persecution of priests."[4] The ROCOR accused the leadership of the ROC as being submissive to the Russian government and were also alarmed by their ties with other denominations of Christianity, especially Catholicism.[4]

At the jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Tsar Nicholas and his family, along with more than 1,000 martyrs and confessors. This Council also enacted a document on relations between the Church and the secular authorities, censoring servility and complaisance. They also rejected the idea of any connection between Orthodoxy and Catholicism.[4]

In 2001, the Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow and ROCOR exchanged formal correspondence. The Muscovite letter said that previous and current separation of the religious groups were purely political matters. ROCOR responded that they were still worried about continued Muscovite involvement in ecumenism, suggesting that would compromise Moscow's Orthodoxy. This was more friendly a discourse than in previous decades.

In 2003 President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with Metropolitan Laurus in New York. Patriarch Alexy II of ROC later hailed this event as an important step, saying that it showed the ROCOR that "not a fighter against God, but an Orthodox Christian is at the country's helm."[39]

In May 2004, Metropolitan Laurus, the Primate of the ROCOR, visited Russia participating in several joint services.[40] In June 2004, a contingent of ROCOR clergy met with Patriarch Alexey II. Both parties agreed to set up committees to begin dialogue towards rapprochement. Both sides set up joint commissions, and determined the range of issues to be discussed at the All-Diaspora Council, which met for the first time since 1974.[40]

The possibility of rapprochement, however, led to a minor schism from the ROCOR in 2001.[41][42] ROCOR's former First Hierarch, Metropolitan Vitaly (Oustinoff), and the suspended Bishop Varnava (Prokofieff) of Cannes, were two leaders who did not join this movement. The two formed a loosely associated jurisdiction under the name Russian Orthodox Church in Exile (ROCiE). They claimed that Metropolitan Vitaly's entourage forged his signature on epistles and documents.[43] Bishop Varnava subsequently issued a letter of apology; he was received back into the ROCOR in 2006 as a retired bishop. Even before the death of Metropolitan Vitaly in 2006, the ROCiE began to divide, and its members eventually formed four rival factions, each claiming to be the true ROCOR.

Reconciliation talks[edit]

After a series of six reconciliation meetings,[44] the ROCOR and the Patriarchate of Moscow, on June 21, 2005, simultaneously announced that rapprochement talks were leading toward the resumption of full relations between the ROCOR and the Patriarchate of Moscow. They said that the ROCOR would be given autonomous status.[45][46] In this arrangement, the ROCOR was announced to

"join the Moscow Patriarchate as a self-governed branch, similar to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It will retain its autonomy in terms of pastoral, educational, administrative, economic, property and secular issues."[40]

While Patriarchate Alexy said that the ROCOR would keep its property and fiscal independence, and that its autonomy would not change "in the foreseeable future", he added that "Maybe this will change in decades and there will be some new wishes. But today we have enough concerns and will not make guesses.”[47]

On May 12, 2006, the general congress of the ROCOR confirmed its willingness to reunite with the Russian Orthodox Church. The latter hailed this resolution as:

"an important step toward restoring full unity between the Moscow Patriarchate and the part of the Russian emigration that was isolated from it as a result of the revolution, the civil war in Russia, and the ensuing impious persecution against the Orthodox Church." [48]

In September 2006, the ROCOR Synod of Bishops approved the text of the document worked out by the commissions, an Act of Canonical Communion. In October 2006, the commissions met again to propose procedures and a time for signing the document.[49] The Act of Canonical Communion went into effect upon its confirmation by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, based the decision of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, held in Moscow on October 3–October 8, 2004; as well as by decision of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, on the basis of the resolution regarding the Act on Canonical Communion of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, held in San Francisco on May 15–May 19, 2006.[50]

Signing of the Act of Canonical Communion[edit]

Main article: Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate
Solemn signing of the Act of Canonical Communion in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow. Left to right: Archpriest Alexander Lebedev, First Hierarch of the ROCOR Metropolitan Laurus, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, Protopriest Nikolai Balashov. 17 May 2007

On December 28, 2006, the leaders officially announced that the Act of Canonical Communion would be signed. The signing took place on May 17, 2007, followed immediately by a full restoration of communion with the Moscow Patriarchate. It was celebrated by a Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, at which the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexius II and the First Hierarch of ROCOR concelebrated for the first time in history.

On 17 May 2007, at 9:15 a.m., Metropolitan Laurus was greeted at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow by a special peal of the bells. Shortly thereafter, Patriarch Alexey II entered the Cathedral. After the Patriarch read the prayer for the unity of the Russian Church, the Act of Canonical Communion was read aloud, and two copies were each signed by both Metropolitan Laurus and Patriarch Alexey II. The two hierarchs exchanged the "kiss of peace," after which they and the entire Russian Church sang "God Grant You Many Years." Following this, the Divine Liturgy of the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord began, culminating with the entirety of the bishops of both ROCOR and MP partaking of the Eucharist.

Present at all of this was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was thanked by Patriarch Alexey for helping to facilitate the reconciliation. Putin addressed the audience of Orthodox Christians, visitors, clergy, and press, saying,

"The split in the church was caused by an extremely deep political split within Russian society itself. We have realized that national revival and development in Russia are impossible without reliance on the historical and spiritual experience of our people. We understand well, and value, the power of pastoral words which unite the people of Russia. That is why restoring the unity of the church serves our common goals."[3]

The Hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad served again with the Patriarch on 19 May, in the consecration of the Church of the New Martyrs in Butovo firing range. They had laid the cornerstone of the church in 2004 during their initial visit.[51][52] Finally, on Sunday, May 20, they concelebrated in a liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin.

President Vladimir Putin gave a reception at the Kremlin to celebrate the reunification. In attendance were Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and members of the Holy Synod for the Russian Orthodox Church; Metropolitan Laurus for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; presidential chief of staff Sergei Sobyanin, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Minister of Culture and Mass Communications Aleksandr Sokolov. Before the reception the participants posed for photographs by the Assumption Cathedral.[53]

Post-reconciliation schism[edit]

Critics of the reunification argue that "the hierarchy in Moscow still has not properly addressed the issue of KGB infiltration of the church hierarchy during the Soviet period."[3][54] Some also note that "some parishes and priests of the ROCOR have always rejected the idea of a reunification with the ROC and said they would leave the ROCOR if this happened. The communion in Moscow may accelerate their departure."[4]

After this act was signed, there was another small schism in the ROCOR: Bishop Agathangel (Pashkovsky) of Odessa and Tauria left, and with him some of ROCOR's parishes in Ukraine. They refused to enter the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). They had fought schisms resulting in the establishment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which were both free of Russian influence. Agathangel was subsequently suspended by the ROCOR synod for disobedience.[55] Despite censure, Agathangel persisted with the support of ROCOR parishes inside and outside Ukraine which had also refused to submit to the Act of Canonical Communion. Agathangel subsequently ordained Bishop Andronik (Kotliaroff), with the assistance of Greek bishops from the Holy Synod in Resistance; these ordinations signified the breach between ROCOR and those who refused communion with Moscow.[citation needed]

At a Fifth All-Diaspora Council (composed of clergy who did not accept the Act of Canonical Communion), Bishop Agathangel was elevated to the rank of metropolitan. He heads the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - Provisional Supreme Church Authority (ROCA-PSCA) as Metropolitan Agathangel of New York and Eastern America.[56]

Present[edit]

ROCOR currently[when?] has 593 parishes and 51 monasteries for men and women in 43 countries throughout the world, served by 672 clergy. The distribution of parishes is as follows: 194 parishes and 11 monasteries in the United States; 67 parishes and 11 monasteries in the Australian diocese; 48 parishes in Germany; 25 parishes and 3 monasteries in Canada; 22 parishes in Indonesia. ROCOR churches and communities also exist in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Palestine, Paraguay, Portugal, South Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela.

There are twelve ROCOR monasteries for men and women in North America, the most important and largest of which is Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York), to which is attached ROCOR's seminary, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

The main source of income for the ROCOR central authority is lease of a part of the building that houses the headquarters of the ROCOR's Synod of Bishops situated at the intersection of East 93rd Street and Park Avenue to a private school, estimated in 2016 to generate about $500,000; the ROCOR was said not to make any monetary contributions towards the ROC's budget.[57]

ROCOR oversees and owns properties of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, which acts as caretaker to three holy sites in East Jerusalem and Palestine, all of which are monasteries.

The current First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia is Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) (since 28 May 2008).

Western Rite in ROCOR[edit]

There is a long history of the Western Rite in ROCOR, although attitudes toward it have varied, and the number of Western Rite parishes is relatively small. St. Petroc Monastery in Tasmania is now under the oversight of Metropolitan Daniel of the Moscow Metropolitanate.[58] Benedictine Christ the Savior Monastery, founded in 1993 in Rhode Island and moved to Hamilton, Ontario, in 2008 (see main article for references) has incorporated the Oratory of Our Lady of Glastonbury as its monastery chapel. The oratory had previously been a mission of the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America but since October 2007 has been a part of ROCOR. There are a few other parishes that either use the Western Rite exclusively or in part. An American parish, St Benedict of Nursia, in Oklahoma City, uses both the Western Rite and the Byzantine Rite.

In 2011, the ROCOR declared all of its Western Rite parishes to be a "vicariate", parallel to the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, and established a website.[59]

On 10 July 2013, an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR removed Bishop Jerome of Manhattan and Fr Anthony Bondi from their positions in the vicariate; ordered a halt to all ordinations and a review of those recently conferred by Bishop Jerome; and decreed preparations be made for the assimilation of existing Western Rite communities to mainstream ROCOR liturgical practice.

See also[edit]

  • List of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
  • Eastern Orthodox Church
  • White émigré
  • Theodore Jurewicz
  • Ivan Ilyin

Notes[edit]

1.^ The number of adherents given in the "Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches" is defined as "individual full members" with the addition of their children. It also includes an estimate of how many are not members but regularly participate in parish life. Regular attendees includes only those who regularly attend church and regularly participate in church life.[60]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Krindatch, A. (2011). Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches. (p. 80). Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press
  2. ^ Burlacioiu, Ciprian (April 2018). "Russian Orthodox Diaspora as a Global Religion after 1918". Studies in World Christianity. 24 (1): 4–24. doi:10.3366/swc.2018.0202. ISSN 1354-9901.
  3. ^ a b c d David Holley (May 17, 2007). "Russian Orthodox Church ends 80-year split". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2007-05-20.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Russian Orthodox Church reunited: Why only now?". 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  5. ^ Положение о Русской Православной Церкви Заграницей: ″Пр. 1. Русская Православная Церковь заграницей есть неразрывная часть поместной Российской Православной Церкви, временно самоуправляющаяся на соборных началах до упразднения в России безбожной власти, в соответствии с Постановлением Св. Патриарха, Св. Синода и Высшего Церковного Совета Российской Церкви от 7/20 ноября 1920 г. за № 362. [...] Пр. 4. Русская Православная Церковь заграницей в своей внутренней жизни и управлении руководствуется: Священным Писанием и Священным Преданием, священными канонами и церковными законами, правилами и благочестивыми обычаями Поместной Российской Православной Церкви и, в частности, — Постановлением Святейшего Патриарха, Свящ. Синода и Высшего Церковного Совета Православной Российской Церкви от 7/20 ноября 1920 года № 362, [...]″
  6. ^ a b ″Загранична црква у Сремским Карловцима: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 23 December 2017, p. 22.
  7. ^ ″Прихваћен позив патријарха Димитрија: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 21 December 2017, p. 25.
  8. ^ “[...] И ныне пусть неусыпно пламенеет молитва наша – да укажет Господь пути спасения и строительства родной земли; да даст защиту Вере и Церкви и всей земле русской и да осенит он сердце народное; да вернет на всероссийский Престол Помазанника, сильного любовью народа, законного православного Царя из Дома Романовых. [...]” (Протоиерей Аркадий Маковецкий. Белая Церковь: Вдали от атеистического террора: Питер, 2009, ISBN 978-5-49807-400-9 , pp. 31–32).
  9. ^ Протоиерей Аркадий Маковецкий. Белая Церковь: Вдали от атеистического террора: Питер, 2009, ISBN 978-5-49807-400-9 , p. 35.
  10. ^ ″У вртлогу политичке борбе: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 15 January 2018, p. 22.
  11. ^ Протоиерей Аркадий Маковецкий. Белая Церковь: Вдали от атеистического террора: Питер, 2009, ISBN 978-5-49807-400-9 , p. 38.
  12. ^ Митрополит Антоний (Храповицкий). Избранные труды. Письма. Материалы. Moscow: ПСТГУ, 2007, р. 786: ″«Заграничная часть Всероссийской Церкви должна прекратить сношения с Московской церковной властью ввиду невозможности нормальных сношений с нею и ввиду порабощения её безбожной советской властью, лишающей её свободы в своих волеизъявлениях и каноническом управлении Церковью»″.
  13. ^ РПЦЗ: КРАТКАЯ ИСТОРИЧЕСКАЯ СПРАВКА: «Заграничная часть Русской Церкви почитает себя неразрывною, духовно-единою ветвью великой Русской Церкви. Она не отделяет себя от своей Матери-Церкви и не считает себя автокефальною».
  14. ^ Karen Dawisha (1994). Russia and the New States of Eurasia: The Politics of Upheaval. New York, NY: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.
  15. ^ Постановления Заместителя Патриаршего Местоблюстителя и при нем Патриаршего Священного Синода: О Карловацкой группе (от 22 июня 1934 года, № 50) (ЖМП, 1934 г.)
  16. ^ ″Домети мисије патријарха Варнаве: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 4 January 2018, p. 25.
  17. ^ ″Нови покушај патријарха Варнаве: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 5 January 2018, p. 18.
  18. ^ ″Нема Русије без православне монархије: Из тајних архива УДБЕ: РУСКА ЕМИГРАЦИЈА У ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ 1918–1941.″ // Politika, 6 January 2018, p. 30.
  19. ^ II Всезарубежный Собор (1938)
  20. ^ И. М. Андреев. Второй Всезарубежный Собор Русской православной церкви заграницей
  21. ^ Деяния Второго Всезарубежного Собора Русской Православной Церкви заграницей. Белград, 1939, pp. 18-19.
  22. ^ прот. Владислав Цыпин. ГЛАВА XI. Церковная диаспора // История Русской Церкви (1917–1997), 1997. Издательство. Издательство Спасо-Преображенского Валаамского монастыря.
  23. ^ Dimitry Pospielovsky, The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime 1917–1982, Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir Seminary Press, 1984, p.223
  24. ^ Archbishop Chrysostomos. "Book Review: The Price of Prophecy". Retrieved 2009-08-06.
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  26. ^ Pospielovsky, Dimitry (1998). The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.
  27. ^ Михаил Шкаровский. Политика Третьего рейха по отношению к Русской Православной Церкви в свете архивных материалов 1935—1945 годов / Сборник документов. 2003, стр. 172
  28. ^ Prof Mikhail Skarovsky. РУССКАЯ ЦЕРКОВНАЯ ЭМИГРАЦИЯ В ЮГОСЛАВИИ В ГОДЫ ВТОРОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ
  29. ^ a b Михаил Шкаровский. Сталинская религиозная политика и Русская Православная Церковь в 1943–1953 годах
  30. ^ a b c d e Julie Stahl (28 January 2000). "American Nuns Involved in Jericho Monastery Dispute". CNS. Archived from the original on 2008-01-11.
  31. ^ "Plot in Progress". Time Magazine. September 15, 1952. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
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  33. ^ a b Jerrold Kessel (July 9, 1997). "Russian Orthodox strife brings change in Hebron". CNN.
  34. ^ "Palestinians Take Sides In Russian Orthodox Dispute". Catholic World News. July 9, 1997. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  35. ^ See, for example, Resolution of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Concerning the Election of Pimen (Isvekov) as Patriarch of Moscow, September 1/14) 1971 Archived 2009-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, December 27th, 2007
  36. ^ Regulations Of The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Confirmed by the Council of Bishops in 1956 and by a decision of the Council dated 5/18 June, 1964 Archived 2009-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, first paragraph, December 28, 2007
  37. ^ The last will and testament of Metropolitan Anastassy, 1957, December 28, 2007
  38. ^ The Catacomb Tikhonite Church 1974, The Orthodox Word, Nov.-Dec., 1974 (59), 235-246, December 28, 2007.
  39. ^ "Russian church leader opens Synod's reunification session". 2007-05-16. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
  40. ^ a b c "Russian Church abroad ruling body approves reunion with Moscow". 2006-05-20. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  41. ^ "Epistle of First-Hierarch, Metropolitan Vitaly, Of ROCOR to All The Faithful Clergy And Flock Of The Church Abroad". Archived from the original on 2008-04-01.
  42. ^ [1] Archived February 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ The Independent, Obituary: Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov, 28 September 2006
  44. ^ "The Sixth Meeting of the Commissions of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate is Held" Archived 2006-09-08 at the Wayback Machine: ROCOR website, downloaded August 25, 2006
  45. ^ http://www.mospat.ru/text/e_news/id/9553.html. Retrieved July 29, 2005. Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  46. ^ "ROCOR website: Joint declarations, April-May 2005". Russianorthodoxchurch.ws. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  47. ^ "Russian Church To End Schism". Associated Press. May 16, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. "Russian Orthodox Church to keep ROCOR traditions – Alexy II". ITAR-TASS. May 14, 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-14.[dead link]
  48. ^ "Russian Church abroad to unite with Moscow". Archived from the original on 2007-12-24. RFE/RL website, May 12, 2006
  49. ^ "The Eighth Meeting of the Church Commissions Concludes": ROCOR website, downloaded November 3, 2006
  50. ^ "Act of Canonical Communion". Synod.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  51. ^ "Union of Moscow Patriarchate and Russian Church Abroad 17 May 2007":Interfax website, downloaded December 28, 2006
  52. ^ http://www.orthodoxnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=WorldNews.one&content_id=16097&CFID=31445921&CFTOKEN=42692498. Retrieved May 18, 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  53. ^ "Putin gives reception for Russian Orthodox Church reunification". 2007-05-19. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  54. ^ Santana, Rebecca (September 11, 2007). "U.S. Worshipers Refuse to Join Moscow Church". The Associated Press. Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  55. ^ "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia - Official Website". Russianorthodoxchurch.ws. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  56. ^ "Sinod of Bishops : Russian Orthodox Church Abroad". Sinod.ruschurchabroad.org. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  57. ^ Расследование РБК: на что живет церковь RBK, 24 February 2017.
  58. ^ "Saint Petroc Monastery". Orthodoxwesternrite.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
  59. ^ "ROCOR Western-Rite - Home". Rwrv.org. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  60. ^ Krindatch, A. (2011). Atlas of american orthodox christian churches. (p. x). Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press

External links[edit]

  • synod.com Official website of the Synod of bishops of the ROCOR
  • fundforassistance.org Official website of the Fund of assistance of the ROCOR
  • ROCOR Studies Website dedicated to the history of the ROCOR
  • eadiocese.org Official website of the Eastern American diocese
  • mcdiocese.com Official website of the diocese of Montreal and Canada
  • rocor.org.au Official website of the diocese of Australia and new Zealand
  • orthodox-europe.org Official website of Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe
  • chicagodiocese.org Official site of Chicago and Mid-American eprahim
  • wadiocese.org Official website of the Western American diocese
  • rocor.de Official website of The German diocese
  • hts.edu Official website of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville
  • rocor-wr.org Western Rite of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia official page
  • iglesiarusa.info Official website of The South American diocese