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→First Hierarchs
type=Semi-autonomous|
founded=1922|
bishop=''see vacant''<!-- [[Laurus Hilarion (SkurlaKapral) of New YorkSydney|Metr. LaurusHilarion (Kapral)]] --->, First Hierarch|
see=New York|
hq=New York, New York|
music=[[Russian Chant]]|
calendar=[[Julian Calendar|Julian]]|
population=60480,000 to 100<ref>[http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1206001825245730.xml&coll=2 Cleveland Plain Dealer: Metropolitan Laurus,000helped reunify Russian Orthodox Church], Thursday, March 20, 2008</ref>|
website=[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/indexeng.htm ROCOR]
}}
:"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."<ref>[http://www.orthodox.net/articles/anastasy-will.html The last will and testament of Metropolitan Anastassy, 1957], December 28, 2007</ref>
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 (Simansky) of Moscow|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 Councils|All-Diaspora Sobor ]] of ROCOR, in which he stated that ROCOR should not "show solidarity with a mysterious, sinless, but also bodiless catacomb."<ref>[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/cat_1974.aspx The Catacomb Tikhonite Church 1974], The Orthodox Word, Nov.-Dec., 1974 (59), 235-246, December 28, 2007.</ref> The fact that the catacomb Church had essentially ceased to exist was de facto recognized when, as Communism was about to finally collapse in Russia, ROCOR began to establish "Free Russian" parishes in Russia, and to consecrate bishops to oversee such parishes, and never recognized any alleged Catacomb bishop as having a legitimate episcopacy.
Finally, the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union precipitated a crisis in ROCOR, because the very reason that had initially resulted in its separation from the Moscow Patriarchate had been removed, and so the basis of the consensus that had previously united ROCOR began to unravel. There were those who did not believe that the Moscow Patriarchate was yet free from the control of the KGB, and that in any case they had not sufficiently renounced the policies of Metropolitan Sergius. There were also those who believed that regardless of the political situation in Russia, that the question of Ecumenism had become sufficient grounds for continued separation. But after the August 2000 All-Russian Sobor of the Moscow Patriarchate, in which the MP officially condemned the Branch Theory of Ecumenism, and also renounced in principle, if not in name, the policies of Metropolitan Sergius, the question of reconciliation with the Moscow Patriarchate become an unavoidable question that had to be resolved, one way or another.<ref>[http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/statusquo.htm Status Quo, ROCOR?], December 28, 2007.</ref>
===Rapprochement with Moscow===
[[Image:Laurus alexii signing.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The signing of the [[Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate|Act of Canonical Communion ]] by Patr. Alexey II and Metr. Laurus]]Since After the election of Metropolitan [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus]] as First Hierarch of ROCOR in 2001, a steady process of rapprochement occurred between ROCOR and the [[Church of Russia|Moscow Patriarchate]]. Multiple official visits have were been exchanged between hierarchs and other clergy of both churches, and the date for restoration of [[full communion]] was officially announced by both sides.{{citation}}
In October 2001 Patriarch [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Alexei II]] and the [[Holy Synod]] of the Moscow Patriarchate sent a letter to the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia calling for reconciliation, but without immediate success. However, there was mutual recognition of grace in the sacraments of each church. Then, in November 2003, a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia consisting of three bishops and two priests paid an official visit to the Moscow Patriarchate. This signaled a warming in relations, and in May 2004 for the first time since the foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, the First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Laurus, visited Moscow and met with Patriarch Alexei. The two church leaders established a joint committee to examine ways to overcome the division between their churches. This committee met successfully on several occasions, working out the details of intercommunion between the two Church bodies.
This possibility of rapprochement led to a small [[schism]] from ROCOR, taking the self-retired Metropolitan [[Vitaly (Ustinov) of New York|Vitaly]] (Metropolitan Laurus's predecessor) with it (regarded by many in ROCOR as having been abducted by the schismatics). The resultant body refers to itself as the ''[[Russian Orthodox Church in Exile]]'' (ROCE/ROCiE), though it often still uses the ''ROCOR'' name. A few other communities have also broken off from ROCOR, some joining with Greek [[Old Calendarists|Old Calendarist]] groups.
In May 2006, the ROCOR met in its IV All-Diaspora Council, which was held at Most Holy Theotokos Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral in San Francisco, California. The council consisted of clergy and lay delegates from all dioceses of the ROCOR, and adopted a resolution, expressing "great hope that in the appropriate time, the unity of the Russian Church will be restored upon the foundation of the Truth of Christ, opening for us the possibility to serve together and to commune from one Chalice."<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/5ensobresolution.html Resolution of the IV All-Diaspora Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]</ref>
Following the IV All-Diaspora Council, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR was held. According to sources close to the council, it generally agreed with the text of the proposed "[[Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate|Act of Canonical Unity]]," but remitted it back to the Committee for Dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate to rework certain aspects of the document.{{citation}} The exact nature of the elements to be worked out is unclear, but, according to sources close to the Synod of Bishops, involvesit involved, among other things, property issues in the Holy Land.{{citation}}
On September 6, 2006, the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR decreed their confirmation and approval of the revised Act of Canonical Unity and instructed the Commission on Discussion with the Moscow Patriarchate to work jointly with the Moscow Patriarchate to work out details of the official signing of the Act.<ref> [http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/9enaktko.html The Synod of Bishops Makes a Decision on the "Act on Canonical Communion"]</ref> Subsequently on September 11, 2006, the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR published on ROCOR's website a clarification of their decision to confirm and approve the Act.<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/9enaktexplanantion.html Clarifications on the Negotiation Process and the "Act on Canonical Communion"]</ref> Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia acknowledged the work of the commissions and declared that the act of reunification, while moving in the right direction, will take time.<ref> [http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=1977 Unification of Orthodox Church with its branch abroad will not be fast - Alexy II]</ref>
Both the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia published on their respective websites the final full text of the Act of Canonical Unity <ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/engdocuments/enmat_akt.html Act of Canonical Union]</ref> with all relevant supporting documents <ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/engdocuments/enmat_addendum.html Addendum to the Act of Canonical Communion], [http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/11ensummation.html Summation of the Joint Work of the Commissions of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate]</ref> on November 1, 2006. The Act having been approved by both the Moscow Patriarchate and ROCOR, it was formally signed in Moscow on May 17, 2007, followed by a concelebration of the Divine Liturgy, bringing the ROCOR into the Moscow Patriarchate.
===ROCOR Today===
ROCOR currently has over 400 349 [[parish]]es as well as and 21 [[monastery|monasteries]] for men and women in 40 32 countries throughout the world, served by nearly 600 [[priest]]s462 clergy. In North America, it has approximately 133 The distribution of parishes is as follows: 152 parishes and 8 monasteries in the US United States; 42 parishes in Germany; 31 parishes and 4 monasteries in Australia; 21 parishes and 3 monasteries in Canada; 22 parishes in Canada. There are three ROCOR communities Indonesia; and a handful of institutions in France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and 21 in [[Diocese of Australia , South America, and New Zealand (.<ref>[http://www.synod.com/ Source: Official ROCOR)|Australia and New Zealand]parish directory]. There are also roughly 100 communities which owe allegiance to ROCOR in Russia and the other nations of the former Soviet Union.</ref>
There are five 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 (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary]].
In concert with the [[Church of Jerusalem]], ROCOR also oversees the [http://www.jerusalem-mission.org/ Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem], which acts as caretaker to three holy sites in Palestine, all of which are monasteries.
Before the reconciliation, ROCOR's status with regard to [[full communion]] was not entirely clear-cut. There was never a formal declaration of a break in communion made between ROCOR and most other Orthodox churches, though in many dioceses [[concelebration]] had been suspended. In others, concelebration was active. A formal declaration of breaking communion with the OCA was issued by the ROCOR Synod after the Moscow Patriarchate issued the Tomos of Autocephaly to the OCA. (See: [[ROCOR and OCA]].) Generally Orthodox Christians from all local Orthodox churches were welcome to the chalice in ROCOR churches. There was never a declaration from the ROCOR synod that grace did not exist in the [[New Calendar]] jurisdictions, in spite of statements to the contrary by the followers of Holy Transfiguation Monastery in Boston when they were still with the Synod.
ROCOR formerly maintained communion with a few [[Old Calendarist]] jurisdictions, including the [[Holy Synod in Resistance]] (True Orthodox Church of Greece, so-called "Cyprianites"), the [[Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Romania]] (Synod of Metropolitan Vlasie), and the [[Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria]] (Bishop Photii). In 2006, communion with the [[Holy Synod in Resistance]] was suspended, after the ROCOR Synod received a letter from Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili stating that Metropolitan Laurus' name had been "struck from the [[Diptychs|diptych]]."<ref>[http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2006/2ensynodmeeting.html A Regular Session of the Synod of Bishops is Held]</ref> Relations with the Synod of Metropolitan Vlasie and with Bishop Photii of Triaditza were subsequently severed as well.
As of 2007, with the reconciliation with Moscow, the ROCOR is now in communion with [[List of autocephalous and autonomous churches|all of mainstream Orthodoxy]] by virtue of its incorporation into the Moscow Patriarchate.
==The Episcopacy==
: ''See '''[[List of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]]'''''The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia currently has 13 thirteen [[bishop]]s serving 11 nine [[diocese]]s throughout the world, along with one retired bishop.
===Ruling bishops:===<!-- *Metropolitan [[Laurus Mark (SkurlaArndt) of New YorkBerlin|Laurus Mark (SkurlaArndt)]] of New York Berlin and Eastern America, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Ruling Bishop of the Syracuse-Holy Trinity Diocese, ''[[Locum Tenens]]'' of the Eastern part of the Diocese of Montreal and Canada --->Germany*Archbishop [[Alypy Kyrill (GamanovichDmitrieff) of ChicagoSan Francisco|Alypy Kyrill (GamanovichDmitrieff)]] of Chicago San Francisco and Mid-Western America*Archbishop [[Mark Gabriel (ArndtChemodakov) of BerlinMontreal|Mark Gabriel (ArndtChemodakov)]] of Berlin, Germany Montreal and of Great BritainCanada*Archbishop [[Hilarion Peter (KapralLoukianoff) of SydneyCleveland|Hilarion Peter (KapralLoukianoff)]] of Sydney, [[Diocese of Australia Chicago and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Australia and New Zealand]]Mid-America*Archbishop Bishop [[Kyrill John (DmitrieffBērziņš) of San FranciscoCaracas|Kyrill John (DmitrieffBērziņš)]] of San Francisco Caracas and Western South America, ''[[Locum Tenens]]'' of the Western part of the Diocese of Montreal and Canada*Bishop [[Michael Irenei (DonskoffSteenberg) of GenevaLondon|Michael Irenei (DonskoffSteenberg)]] of Geneva London and Western Europe
===Vicar bishops:===*Bishop [[Daniel Theodosius (AlexandrowIvashchenko) of Erie|Daniel (Alexandrow)Seattle]] of ErieSeattle, Vicar of the President Diocese of the Synod of Bishops for the service of Old BelieversWestern America*Bishop [[Gabriel George (ChemodakovSchaefer) of Manhattan|Gabriel (Chemodakov)Canberra]] of ManhattanCanberra, Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese of Australia and New York DioceseZealand*Bishop [[Agapit Nicholas (GorachekOlhovsky) of Stuttgart|Agapit (Gorachek)Manhattan]] of StuttgartManhattan, Vicar of the Diocese of Eastern America* Bishop Alexander of Vevey, Vicar of the German Dioceseof Western Europe*Bishop [[Peter (Loukianoff) Luke of Syracuse, Vicar of the Diocese of Cleveland|Peter (Loukianoff)]] Eastern America* Bishop James of ClevelandSonora, Vicar of the Chicago Dioceseof Western America
===Retired bishops:===*Bishop [[Ambrose Michael (CantacuzèneDonskoff) of Geneva|Ambrose Michael (CantacuzèneDonskoff)]], Retired, formerly of Geneva and Western Europe*Bishop [[Varnava Jerome (Prokofiev) of Cannes|Varnava (ProkofievShaw)]], Retired, formerly of Cannes, Vicar for the Western European diocese
==See also==
*[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/roca_history.aspx History of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad], by St. [[John Maximovitch]]
*[http://gnisios.narod.ru/bisrocor.html Bishops of the ROCOR]
*[http://www.russianorthodoxchurchsynod.wscom/01newstucture/pagesen/articles/svassasobor.htm "Glory be to God, Who Did Not Abandon His Church": The Self-Awareness of ROCOR at the Third All-Diaspora Council of 1974], by [[Vassa (Larin)|Nun Vassa (Larin)]]
<!--- * [http://www.pravos.org/index.htm Commission Dialogue Moscow Patriarchate-Church outside Russia] --->
*[http://pageswww.prodigysaintjonah.netorg/frjohnwhitefordarticles/voicesofreason.htm Voices of Reason], a collection of articles in response to those who oppose the reconciliation of ROCOR with the MP
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