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:"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]]
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 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.
===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.
==The Episcopacy==
: ''See '''[[List of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]]'''''The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia currently has 9 thirteen [[bishop]]s serving 9 nine [[diocese]]s throughout the world, two along with one retired bishops, and three candidates for the episcopacybishop.
===Ruling bishops:===*Metropolitan [[Hilarion Mark (KapralArndt) of SydneyBerlin|Hilarion Mark (KapralArndt)]] of New York Berlin and Eastern America, First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Archbishop of Sydney, [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Australia and New Zealand]], '''[[Locum Tenens]]''' of the the Diocese of Buenos Aires and South AmericaGermany*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 [[Kyrill Peter (DmitrieffLoukianoff) of San FranciscoCleveland|Kyrill Peter (DmitrieffLoukianoff)]] of San Francisco Chicago and Western Mid-America*Bishop [[Michael John (DonskoffBērziņš) of GenevaCaracas|Michael John (DonskoffBērziņš)]] of Geneva Caracas and Western EuropeSouth America*Bishop [[Gabriel Irenei (ChemodakovSteenberg) of ManhattanLondon|Gabriel Irenei (ChemodakovSteenberg)]] of Montreal London and CanadaWestern 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 [[Agapit George (GorachekSchaefer) of Stuttgart|Agapit (Gorachek)Canberra]] of StuttgartCanberra, Vicar of the German Dioceseof Australia and New Zealand*Bishop [[Peter Nicholas (LoukianoffOlhovsky) of Cleveland|Peter (Loukianoff)Manhattan]] of ClevelandManhattan, Administrator Vicar of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-Eastern America*Bishop [[John (Bērziņš) Alexander of Vevey, Vicar of the Diocese of Caracas|John (Bērziņš)]] Western Europe* Bishop Luke of CaracasSyracuse, Administrator Vicar of the Diocese of South Eastern America*Bishop-Elect [[Theodosius (Ivashchenko)]]. Candidate for Bishop James of SeattleSonora, Vicar of the Diocese of Western America.*Bishop-Elect [[George (Schaeffer)]] *Bishop-Elect [[John Shaw]]
===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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