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The '''All-Diaspora Councils''' were councils of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]] (ROCOR) that consisted of [[bishop]]s and representatives of the clergy and laity, convened by the First Hierarch and the Synod of Bishops. The resolutions of these councils have the force of church law which became effective upon confirmation by the Synod of Bishops.
The councils were convened as Local Church Councils of the refugee elements of the [[Church of Russia]] that formed under the leadership of the refugee [[Holy Synod|Synod of Bishops]] led by Metropolitan [[Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev|Anthony]] after the administrative structure of the Church of Russia was destroyed by the Bolshevik led Soviet Union government in the early 1920s. The councils were conducted in accordances with the image and likeness of the [[All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918|Local Council of 1917-18]].
The organization of the Russian Orthodox refugees by the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR was done under authority delegated by Patriarch [[Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon]] in his [[Ukaz No. 362]] of 1920. Four such councils were convened before reconciliation was achieved between ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.