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→Rapprochement with Moscow: punctuation cleanup
Since the election of Metropolitan [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus]] as First Hierarch of ROCOR in 2001, a steady process of rapprochement has been occurring between ROCOR and the [[Church of Russia|Moscow Patriarchate]]. Multiple official visits have been exchanged between hierarchs and other clergy of both churches, and it is generally believed that the restoration of [[full communion]] is imminent.
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 success. However, there was mutal 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 signalled 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 has now met successfully on several occasions, working out the details of intercommunion between the two Church bodies.
This possibility of rapprochement has led to [[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.
