'''Priestly Old Believers''' or '''Popovtsy''' are those [[Old Believers]] who in principle consider such [[church]]es who have adopted the ritual observations rejected by the Old Believers to be [[schism]]atic, but not necessarily [[heresy|heretic]]. All Old Believers consider the practices of the post-Nikonitan Russian Church and other similar churches to have a ritual observance alien to what they consider truly Orthodox. However, the Popovtsy do consider it possible to receive "new ritualists" with [[chrism|myrrhon]], since Popovtsy discern between [[heretic]]s and schismatics. As a consequence of the fact that some [[priest]]s never accepted the ritual changes and had kept myrrhon consecrated before the schism, which could be mixed with olive oil, the Popovtsy received [[Nikonian]]s Nikonians with myrrhon and sometimes also got the opportunity to receive priests and finally also [[Metropolitan]] Ambrosios of Sarajevo, which enabled them to establish an episcopal hierarchy.