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The ROCE was led by At the Council of Bishops of the [[ROCOR]] in 2001, Metropolitan [[Vitaly (Ustinov) of New York|Vitaly]], who had officially retired as the primate First-Hierarch of the ROCOR. Archbishop [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus]] was elected the new First-Hierarch by secret ballot. Metropolitan Vitaly congratulated Arcbishop Laurus on his election and then left the Synod for ROCOR's Holy Transfiguration Skete in Mansonville, but passed away on Quebec. In Mansonville, Metropolitan Vitaly was joined by Bishop [[September 25Varnava (Prokofiev) of Cannes|Varnava]], 2006. Upon the formation then suspended vicar bishop of the ROCE MetrROCOR's Western European Diocese. Shortly after taking up residence in Mansonville, Metroplitan Vitaly was declared by it to have issued a declaration, stating that he had been retired forcibly by removed from his position as First Hierarch and that he was withdrawing his enemies resignation. Bishop Varnava then ordained Hieromonks Sergius (Kindiakov) and Vladimir (Tselischev) to the episcopacy. The new group became called the Russian Orthodox Church in ROCORExile, and was led by Metropolitan Vitaly. According  Almost immediately, the ROCiE began to their description fracture because of eventsinternal infighting. Conflict broke out between Bishop Varnava and Protopresbyter Benjamin Zhukov of Paris, he then removed France, the rector of ROCiE's largest parish and acting ROCiE secretary. As a result, Bishop Varnava, who was suspended by the ROCiE Synod, declared the ROCiE's actions uncanonical and became de-facto autocephalous. Bishop Varnava subsequently petitioned to Canadabe received back into the [[ROCOR]], where he governed a petition granted at the ROCEROCOR's 2006 Council of Bishops. It is contrarily claimed by critics  Critics of this jurisdiction the ROCiE claim that the aged Vitaly was kidnapped and was essentially a figurehead, being unfit for [[bishop|episcopal]] governance, while ROCiE affairs were run by Zhukov and L.D. Rosnyanskaya, the aged Metropolitan's secretary. Courts in Canada and New York have rejected this the claim that Metropolitan Vitaly was psychologically unfit after taking into account multiple court-mandated psychiatric evaluations.<ref>New York Supreme Court, Part 34, Index No. 500180/2001, Chemodakov v. Oustinow, p. 11</ref> However, it should be noted that the erratic behavior of Metropolitan Vitaly caused several factions of the ROCE ROCiE to claim at various times the very thing that they denied earlier&mdash;namely, that the metropolitan was being taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, and so various epistles, actions, or ukazes should be ignored. <ref>For example, on the "official" ROCE site that is under the control of Anthony Orlov, we find [http://www.mansonville.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=97&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 this statement] claiming that a "group of common thugs led by L. D. Rosnyansky [had] isolated the First Hierarch against his will from his Assistant and members present at the Sobor..." (August 16, 2006)[http://www.mansonville.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=97&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0]; and then on [http://www.mansonville.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=95&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 this page], we find claims that the metropolitan was being taken advantage of by these same people, and that these people managed to get Metropolitan Vitaly to sign documents he would not have agreed to.[http://www.mansonville.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=95&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0] It should be noted that these "thugs" are the same people who talked Metropolitan Vitaly into leaving the ROCOR Synod immediately after the election of Metropolitan Laurus, which he had taken part in, and initially approved of.[https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A2=ind0111A&L=orthodox&P=R6638&D=1&O=D&m=54423] Then on the rival "official" web site of the ROCIE, we find [http://www.rocor-v.com/rocor/roceofficial.html this letter], in which a group of bishops in Russia are condemned for having somehow "managed to acquire [Metropolitan Vitaly's] written blessing to perform their proposed episcopal elevations and to create an ecclesiastical administration in the form of some sort of parallel Synod", which the group in Mansonville did not consider to be authoritative, because the Metropolitan acted on his own, having again been taken advantage of by unscrupulous people (August, 21 2002).[http://www.rocor-v.com/rocor/roceofficial.html] See also [http://www.rocor-v.com/rocor/man720.html this page], April 20 2002. All of this is very much like what occurred in the last couple of years that Metropolitan Vitaly was First Hierarch of ROCOR. In synod meetings he would sign on to statements, and then subsequently issue epistles taking back what he had said, only to again contradict his epistles at the next Synod meeting.[http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/voicesofreason_old.htm]</ref>.