16,951
edits
Changes
m
link
In Russia, it is purported that after the gradual development of the [[Great Schism]], a tiny group of Russian families maintained themselves as “Old Catholics,” (rus: старокатолики (starokatoliki)), a name which should not be confused with the Döllingerite [[Old Catholic Church]]es of Europe and the U.S., who formally split with the Roman Catholic Church in the wake of the reforms of the [[First Vatican Council]]. The status of this group of Russian "Old Catholics", families and groups of individuals to whom the union with Rome remains dear and essential, or its relation to the current Russian (Rite) Catholic Church is unclear.
The modern Russian Catholic church owes much to the inspiration of visionary poet and philosopher [[Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov]] (1853-1900), who urged, following Dante, that, just as the world needed the Tsar as a universal monarch, the Church needed the Pope of Rome as a universal ecclesial [[hierarch]]. Following Solovyov's teachings a Russian Orthodox priest, Nicholas Tolstoy, entered into full communion with the See of Rome under the [[Greek Melkite Catholic Church|Melkite Greek-Catholic, Byzantine Rite]] [[Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]]. Solovyov received sacramental last holy communion from Father Tolstoy believing that in doing so he remained also a faithful member of the Russian Orthodox Church. Orthodox authorities refer to Tolstoy as an [[apostate]] and “ex-priest,” but tend to imply that Solovyov still died an Orthodox Christian. Nevertheless, Solovyov has never retracted his sentiments in favor of union with the Catholic Church and the See of Rome, and to this day, many Russian Catholics refer to themselves as members of the 'Russian ''Orthodox'' Church in communion with Rome'.
The Russian Catholic Church formally united with Rome in 1905. [[Old Believers]] were very prominent in the early years of the movement. Despite enduring persecutions of Russian Catholics, even though [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] and especially the February Revolution relieved a bit of the persecution, the first Apostolic Exarchate for Russian Catholics was formed in 1917 with Most Reverend [[Leonid Feodorov]], formerly a Russian Orthodox seminarian, as [[Exarch]], but the Bolshevik Revolution soon followed, dispersing Russian Rite Catholics into the Siberian GULAG and the centers of the Russian diaspora throughout the world. Exarch Leonid Feodorov was deported to the communist concentration camp at [[Solovetsky Monastery|Solovki]]. Released in 1932, he died three years later. He was [[glorification|beatified]] in 2001 by [[John Paul II]]. In 1928, a second Apostolic Exarchate was set up for the Russian Catholics in China, based in Harbin.