Russian Orthodox Church

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For buildings of this name, see Russian Orthodox Church (disambiguation).

Church Slavonic (worship), Russian (sermon and paperwork); in addition: languages of national minorities in Russia professing Eastern Orthodoxy; local languages in diaspora (first of all, English)
LiturgyByzantine Rite
HeadquartersDanilov Monastery, Moscow, Russia
55°42′40″N 37°37′45″E / 55.71111°N 37.62917°E / 55.71111; 37.62917
FounderVladimir the Great[4][a]
Origin988
Kievan Rus'
Independence1448, de facto[7]
Recognition
Separations
Members110 million (95 million in Russia, total of 15 million in the linked autonomous churches)[8][9][10][11]
Other name(s)
  • Russian Church
  • Moscow Patriarchate
Official websitepatriarchia.ru
Part of a series on the
Eastern Orthodox Church
Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail)
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Background
Organization
Autocephalous jurisdictions
Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion:

Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure:

Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches:

Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church:


Autonomous jurisdictions

Semi-Autonomous:

Episcopal assemblies
Noncanonical jurisdictions
Ecumenical councils
  • Other possible ecumenical councils:
  • Other important councils:
History
Theology
Liturgy and worship
Liturgical calendar
  • The four fasting periods:
Major figures
Saints (Russian (until 15th century), Russian (post-15th century), Serbian, American)
Other topics

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; Russian: Русская православная церковь, РПЦ, romanized: Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', RPTs,[b]), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (Московский патриархат, Moskovskiy patriarkhat),[12] is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia.[13] The primate of the ROC is the patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'.

The history of the ROC begins with the Christianization of Kievan Rus', which commenced in 988 with the baptism of Vladimir the Great and his subjects by the clergy of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.[14][15] Starting in the 14th century, Moscow served as the primary residence of the Russian metropolitan.[16] The ROC declared autocephaly in 1448 when it elected its own metropolitan.[17] In 1589, the metropolitan was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople.[18] In the mid-17th century, a series of reforms led to a schism in the Russian Church, as the Old Believers opposed the changes.[19]

The ROC currently claims exclusive jurisdiction over the Eastern Orthodox Christians, irrespective of their ethnic background, who reside in the former member republics of the Soviet Union, excluding Georgia. The ROC also created the autonomous Church of Japan and Chinese Orthodox Church. The ROC eparchies in Belarus and Latvia, since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, enjoy various degrees of self-government, albeit short of the status of formal ecclesiastical autonomy.

The ROC should also not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (or ROCOR, also known as the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad), headquartered in the United States. The ROCOR was instituted in the 1920s by Russian communities outside the Soviet Union, which had refused to recognise the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate that was de facto headed by Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky. The two churches reconciled on 17 May 2007; the ROCOR is now a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

History

Main article: History of the Russian Orthodox Church
The three-barred cross of the Russian Orthodox Church. The slanted bottom bar represents the footrest, while the top is the titulus (often "INRI") affixed by the Roman authorities to Christ's cross during his crucifixion

Apostle Andrew

One of the foundational narratives associated with the history of

Novgorod now [stands]" and observed the locals, before eventually arriving in Rome.[23] Despite the lack of historical evidence supporting this narrative, modern church historians in Russia have often incorporated this tale into their studies.[14]

Kievan Rus'

See also: Christianization of Kievan Rus'

In the 10th century, Christianity began to take root in

Sviatoslav opposed conversion, despite persuasion from his mother,[24] and there is little information about Christianity in sources in the period between 969 and 988.[28]

Ten years after seizing power, Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in 988 and began Christianizing his people upon his return.[29] That year was decreed by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 as the date of the Christianization of the country.[29] According to the Chronicle, Vladimir had previously sent envoys to investigate the different faiths.[29] After receiving glowing reports about Constantinople,[29] he captured Chersonesus in Crimea and demanded that the sister of Basil II be sent there.[30] The marriage took place on the condition that Vladimir would be also baptized there.[30] Vladimir had lent considerable military support to the Byzantine emperor and may have besieged the city due to it having sided with the rebellious Bardas Phokas.[30] By the early 11th century, Christianity was established as the state religion.[31] By the early 13th century, some 40 episcopal sees had been established, all of which ultimately answered to Constantinople.[32]

Transfer of the see to Moscow; de facto independence of the Russian Church

After Kiev lost its significance following the

Moscow for supremacy in northwest Russia.[34][35] Peter moved his residence to Moscow in 1325 and became a strong ally of the prince of Moscow.[36] During Peter's tenure in Moscow, the foundation for the Dormition Cathedral was laid and Peter was buried there.[37] By choosing to reside and be buried in Moscow, Peter had designated Moscow as the future center of the Russian Orthodox Church.[36]

Peter was succeeded by Theognostus, who, like his predecessor, pursued policies that supported the rise of the Moscow principality.[38][39] During the first four years of his tenure, the Dormition Cathedral was completed and an additional four stone churches were constructed in Moscow.[38] By the end of 1331, Theognostus was able to restore ecclesiastical control over Lithuania.[40] Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige.[38] His successor Alexius lost ecclesiastical over Lithuania in 1355, but kept the traditional title.[41]

Russian Orthodox monks defended the Trinity monastery against Polish troops during the Time of Troubles. Painting by Sergey Miloradovich.

On 5 July 1439, at the

apostate, Isidore was recognized as the lawful metropolitan by Vasily II until he left Moscow on 15 September 1441.[45]

For the following seven years, the seat of the metropolitan remained vacant.

Jonah as metropolitan, without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople, which marked the beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church.[47] Although not all Russian clergy supported Jonah, the move was subsequently justified in the Russian point of view following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which was interpreted as divine punishment.[48] While it is possible that the failure to obtain the blessing from Constantinople was not intentional, nevertheless, this marked the beginning of independence of the Russian Church.[49]

Autocephaly and schism

See also: 15th–16th century Moscow–Constantinople schism and Schism of the Russian Church
Nikita Pustosviat, Disputing the Matters of Faith with Patriarch Joachim, painting by Vasily Perov

Jonah's policy as metropolitan was to recover the areas lost to the Uniate church.[50] He was able to include Lithuania and Kiev to his title, but not Galicia.[50] Lithuania was separated from his jurisdiction in 1458, and the influence of Catholicism increased in those regions.[50] As soon as Vasily II heard about the ordination of Gregory as metropolitan of the newly established metropolis of Kiev, he sent a delegation to the king of Poland warning him not to accept Gregory; Jonah also attempted to persuade feudal princes and nobles who resided in Lithuania to continue to side with Orthodoxy, but this attempt failed.[50]

The fall of Constantinople and the beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church contributed to political consolidation in Russia and the development of a new identity based on awareness that Moscow was only metropolitanate in the Orthodox

oikoumene that remained politically independent.[49] The formulation of the idea of Moscow as the "third Rome" is primarily associated with the monk Philotheus of Pskov
, who stated that "Moscow alone shines over all the earth more radiantly than the sun" because of its fidelity to the faith.[49] The marriage of Ivan III to Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, and the defeat of the Tatars, helped to solidify this view.[49][51][52]

By the turn of the 16th century, the consolidation of Orthodoxy in Russia continued as Archbishop

Joseph of Volotsk (1439–1515) led a movement that supported strong church involvement in the state's affairs.[18] By 1551, the Stoglav Synod addressed the lack of uniformity in existing ecclesial practices.[18] Metropolitan Macarius also collected "all holy books... available in the Russian land" and completed the Grand Menaion, which was influential in shaping the narrative tradition of Russian Orthodoxy.[18] In 1589, during the reign of Feodor I and under the direction of Boris Godunov, the metropolitan of Moscow, Job, was consecrated as the first Russian patriarch with the blessing of Jeremias II of Constantinople.[53][18] In the decree establishing the patriarchate, the whole Russian tsardom is called a "third Rome".[54]

By the mid-17th century, the religious practices of the Russian Orthodox Church were distinct from those of the Greek Orthodox Church.[19] Patriarch Nikon reformed the church in order to bring most of its practices back into accommodation with the contemporary forms of Greek Orthodox worship.[19] Nikon's efforts to correct the translations of texts and institute liturgical reforms were not accepted by all.[19] Archpriest Avvakum accused the patriarch of "defiling the faith" and "pouring wrathful fury upon the Russian land".[19] The result was a schism, with those who resisted the new practices being known as the Old Believers.[19]

In the aftermath of the

Sophia Alekseyevna, pressured the patriarch of Constantinople into transferring the metropolis of Kiev from the jurisdiction of Constantinople to that of Moscow. The handover brought millions of faithful and half a dozen dioceses under the ultimate administrative care of the patriarch of Moscow, and later of the Holy Synod of Russia, leading to a significant Ukrainian presence in the Russian Church, which continued well into the 18th century.[55] The exact terms and conditions of the handover of the metropolis remains a contested issue.[56][57][58][59]

Synodal period

Further information: Church reform of Peter the Great
St. Sophia-Assumption Cathedral in Tobolsk

Following the death of Patriarch

locum tenens.[60] Peter believed that Russia's resources, including the church, could be used to establish a modern European state and he sought to strengthen the authority of the monarch.[60] He was also inspired by church–state relations in the West and therefore brought the institutional structure of the church in line with other ministries.[61] Theophan Prokopovich wrote Peter's Spiritual Regulation, which no longer legally recognized the separation of the church and the state.[61]

Peter replaced the patriarch with a council known as the Most Holy Synod in 1721, which consisted of appointed bishops, monks, and priests.[61] The church was also overseen by an ober-procurator that would directly report to the emperor.[61] Peter's reforms marked the beginning of the Synodal period of the Russian Church, which would last until 1917.[61] In order to make monasticism more socially useful, Peter began the processes that would eventually lead to the large-scale secularization of monastic landholdings in 1764 under Catherine II.[61][62] 822 monasteries were closed between 1701 and 1805, and monastic communities became highly regulated, receiving funds from the state for support.[61]

The late 18th century saw the rise of

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov
.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, the

bishops did not even tolerate their clergy marrying outside of the priestly families of their diocese.[63]

Fin-de-siècle religious renaissance

Russian Orthodox church in Dresden, built in the 1870s

In 1909, a volume of essays appeared under the title

Peter Struve and former Marxists
.

It is possible to see a similarly renewed vigor and variety in religious life and spirituality among the lower classes, especially after the upheavals of 1905. Among the peasantry, there was widespread interest in spiritual-ethical literature and non-conformist moral-spiritual movements, an upsurge in pilgrimage and other devotions to sacred spaces and objects (especially icons), persistent beliefs in the presence and power of the supernatural (apparitions, possession, walking-dead, demons, spirits, miracles and magic), the renewed vitality of local "ecclesial communities" actively shaping their own ritual and spiritual lives, sometimes in the absence of clergy, and defining their own sacred places and forms of piety. Also apparent was the proliferation of what the Orthodox establishment branded as "sectarianism", including both non-Eastern Orthodox Christian denominations, notably Baptists, and various forms of popular Orthodoxy and mysticism.[64]

Russian Revolution and Civil War

See also: Russian Revolution

In 1914, there were 55,173 Russian Orthodox churches and 29,593 chapels, 112,629 priests and deacons, 550 monasteries and 475 convents with a total of 95,259 monks and nuns in Russia.[65]

The year 1917 was a major turning point in Russian history, and also the Russian Orthodox Church.

Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government in Petrograd on 25 October (O.S.). On 5 November, Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow
was selected as the first Russian Patriarch after about 200 years of Synodal rule.

In early February 1918, the Bolshevik-controlled government of Soviet Russia enacted the

Patriarch Tikhon issued a proclamation that anathematised the perpetrators of such acts.[67]

The church was caught in the crossfire of the Russian Civil War that began later in 1918, and church leadership, despite their attempts to be politically neutral (from the autumn of 1918), as well as the clergy generally were perceived by the Soviet authorities as a "counter-revolutionary" force and thus subject to suppression and eventual liquidation.

In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed.[68]

Soviet period

See also: Religion in the Soviet Union and Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
Tikhon of Moscow

The Soviet Union, formally created in December 1922, was the first state to have elimination of religion as an ideological objective espoused by the country's ruling political party. Toward that end, the Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated materialism and atheism in schools.[69] Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed.

Orthodox clergy and active believers were treated by the Soviet law-enforcement apparatus as anti-revolutionary elements and were habitually subjected to formal prosecutions on political charges, arrests, exiles,

mental hospitals.[70][71]

However, the Soviet policy vis-a-vis organised religion vacillated over time between, on the one hand, a utopian determination to substitute secular rationalism for what they considered to be an outmoded "superstitious" worldview and, on the other, pragmatic acceptance of the tenaciousness of religious faith and institutions. In any case, religious beliefs and practices did persist, not only in the domestic and private spheres but also in the scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognized its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war.[72]

St. Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, northeast China. In 1921, Harbin was home of at least 100,000 White Russian
émigrés.

The Russian Orthodox church was drastically weakened in May 1922, when the

Josephites and the Russian True Orthodox Church
), a move that caused division among clergy and faithful that persisted until 1946.

Between 1917 and 1935, 130,000 Eastern Orthodox priests were arrested. Of these, 95,000 were put to death.[citation needed] Many thousands of victims of persecution became recognized in a special canon of saints known as the "new martyrs and confessors of Russia".[citation needed]

When Patriarch Tikhon died in 1925, the Soviet authorities forbade patriarchal election. Patriarchal locum tenens (acting Patriarch)

schism, sometimes coined Sergianism. Due to this canonical disagreement it is disputed which church has been the legitimate successor to the Russian Orthodox Church that had existed before 1925.[73][74][75][76]

In 1927, Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe
.

Photograph taken of the 1931 demolition of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow

Moreover, in the

1936 Soviet Constitution officially allowed for freedom of religion within the Soviet Union, and along with initial statements of it being a multi-candidate election, the Church again attempted to run its own religious candidates in the 1937 elections. However the support of multicandidate elections was retracted several months before the elections were held and in neither 1929 nor 1937 were any candidates of the Orthodox Church elected.[77]

After

Apostolic canon, as no church hierarch could be consecrated by secular authorities.[73] A new patriarch was elected, theological schools were opened, and thousands of churches began to function. The Moscow Theological Academy Seminary
, which had been closed since 1918, was re-opened.

In December 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine lifted classified top secret status of documents revealing that the NKVD of the USSR and its units were engaged in the selection of candidates for participation in the 1945 Local Council from the representatives of the clergy and the laity. NKVD demanded "to outline persons who have religious authority among the clergy and believers, and at the same time checked for civic or patriotic work". In the letter sent in September 1944, it was emphasized: "It is important to ensure that the number of nominated candidates is dominated by the agents of the NKBD, capable of holding the line that we need at the Council".[78][79]

Persecution under Khrushchev

A new and widespread persecution of the church was subsequently instituted under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. A second round of repression, harassment and church closures took place between 1959 and 1964 when Nikita Khrushchev was in office. The number of Orthodox churches fell from around 22,000 in 1959 to around 8,000 in 1965;[80] priests, monks and faithful were killed or imprisoned[citation needed] and the number of functioning monasteries was reduced to less than twenty.

Subsequent to Khrushchev's ousting, the Church and the government remained on unfriendly terms[vague] until 1988. In practice, the most important aspect of this conflict was that openly religious people could not join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which meant that they could not hold any political office. However, among the general population, large numbers[clarification needed] remained religious.

Some Orthodox believers and even priests took part in the

obsolete source][unreliable source?
]

According to Metropolitan Vladimir, by 1988 the number of functioning churches in the Soviet Union had fallen to 6,893 and the number of functioning convents and monasteries to just 21.[84][85] In 1987 in the Russian SFSR, between 40% and 50% of newborn babies (depending on the region) were baptized. Over 60% of all deceased received Christian funeral services.[citation needed]

Glasnost and evidence of collaboration with the KGB

Main article: Glasnost

Beginning in the late 1980s, under Mikhail Gorbachev, the new political and social freedoms resulted in the return of many church buildings to the church, so they could be restored by local parishioners. A pivotal point in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church came in 1988, the millennial anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus'. Throughout the summer of that year, major government-supported celebrations took place in Moscow and other cities; many older churches and some monasteries were reopened. An implicit ban on religious propaganda on state TV was finally lifted. For the first time in the history of the Soviet Union, people could watch live transmissions of church services on television.

Moscow Patriarchate who was one of those who briefly gained access to the KGB's archives in the early 1990s, argued that the Moscow Patriarchate was "practically a subsidiary, a sister company of the KGB".[86] Critics charge that the archives showed the extent of active participation of the top ROC hierarchs in the KGB efforts overseas.[87][88][89][90][91][92] George Trofimoff, the highest-ranking US military officer ever indicted for, and convicted of, espionage by the United States and sentenced to life imprisonment on 27 September 2001, had been "recruited into the service of the KGB"[93] by Igor Susemihl (a.k.a. Zuzemihl), a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church (subsequently, a high-ranking hierarch—the ROC Metropolitan Iriney of Vienna, who died in July 1999).[94]

Konstanin Kharchev, former chairman of the Soviet Council on Religious Affairs, explained: "Not a single candidate for the office of bishop or any other high-ranking office, much less a member of the Holy Synod, went through without confirmation by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the KGB".[90] Professor Nathaniel Davis points out: "If the bishops wished to defend their people and survive in office, they had to collaborate to some degree with the KGB, with the commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs, and with other party and governmental authorities".[95] Patriarch Alexy II, acknowledged that compromises were made with the Soviet government by bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate, himself included, and he publicly repented for these compromises.[96][97]

Post-Soviet era

Patriarch Aleksey II (1990–2008)

of Moscow and All Russia

Metropolitan Alexy (Ridiger) of Leningrad, ascended the patriarchal throne in 1990 and presided over the partial return of Orthodox Christianity to Russian society after 70 years of repression, transforming the ROC to something resembling its pre-communist appearance; some 15,000 churches had been re-opened or built by the end of his tenure, and the process of recovery and rebuilding has continued under his successor Patriarch Kirill. According to official figures, in 2016 the Church had 174 dioceses, 361 bishops, and 34,764 parishes served by 39,800 clergy. There were 926 monasteries and 30 theological schools.[98]

The Russian Church also sought to fill the ideological vacuum left by the

collapse of Communism and even, in the opinion of some analysts, became "a separate branch of power".[99]

In August 2000, the ROC adopted its Basis of the Social Concept[100] and in July 2008, its Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights.[101]

Opening of monument to the victims of political repressions, Moscow, 1990

Under Patriarch Aleksey, there were difficulties in the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the

Catholic diocesan structure for Russian territory. The leaders of the Russian Church saw this action as a throwback to prior attempts by the Vatican to proselytize the Russian Orthodox faithful to become Roman Catholic. This point of view was based upon the stance of the Russian Orthodox Church (and the Eastern Orthodox Church) that the Church of Rome is in schism, after breaking off from the Orthodox Church. The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, while acknowledging the primacy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, believed that the small Roman Catholic minority in Russia, in continuous existence since at least the 18th century, should be served by a fully developed church hierarchy with a presence and status in Russia, just as the Russian Orthodox Church is present in other countries (including constructing a cathedral in Rome, near the Vatican
).

There occurred strident conflicts with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, most notably over the Orthodox Church in Estonia in the mid-1990s, which resulted in unilateral suspension of eucharistic relationship between the churches by the ROC.[102] The tension lingered on and could be observed at the meeting in Ravenna in early October 2007 of participants in the Orthodox–Catholic Dialogue: the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, walked out of the meeting due to the presence of representatives from the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church which is in the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At the meeting, prior to the departure of the Russian delegation, there were also substantive disagreements about the wording of a proposed joint statement among the Orthodox representatives.[103] After the departure of the Russian delegation, the remaining Orthodox delegates approved the form which had been advocated by the representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.[104] The Ecumenical See's representative in Ravenna said that Hilarion's position "should be seen as an expression of authoritarianism whose goal is to exhibit the influence of the Moscow Church. But like last year in Belgrade, all Moscow achieved was to isolate itself once more since no other Orthodox Church followed its lead, remaining instead faithful to Constantinople."[105][106]

A cross Procession in Novosibirsk, Siberia.

Canon

Michael Bourdeaux, former president of the Keston Institute, said in January 2008 that "the Moscow Patriarchate acts as though it heads a state church, while the few Orthodox clergy who oppose the church-state symbiosis face severe criticism, even loss of livelihood."[107] Such a view is backed up by other observers of Russian political life.[108] Clifford J. Levy of The New York Times wrote in April 2008: "Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin's surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. [...] This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Mr. Putin's tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working 'in symphony'."[109]

Throughout Patriarch Alexy's reign, the massive program of costly restoration and reopening of devastated churches and monasteries (as well as the construction of new ones) was criticized for having eclipsed the church's principal mission of evangelizing.[110][111]

On 5 December 2008, the day of Patriarch Alexy's death, the Financial Times said: "While the church had been a force for liberal reform under the Soviet Union, it soon became a center of strength for conservatives and nationalists in the post-communist era. Alexei's death could well result in an even more conservative church."[112]

Patriarch Kirill (since 2009)

Jewish Autonomous Region
, Russian Far East.

On 27 January 2009, the ROC Local Council elected Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus′ by 508 votes out of a total of 700.[113] He was enthroned on 1 February 2009.

Patriarch Kirill implemented reforms in the administrative structure of the Moscow Patriarchate: on 27 July 2011 the Holy Synod established the Central Asian Metropolitan District, reorganizing the structure of the Church in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.[114] In addition, on 6 October 2011, at the request of the Patriarch, the Holy Synod introduced the metropoly (Russian: митрополия, mitropoliya), administrative structure bringing together neighboring eparchies.[115]

Under Patriarch Kirill, the ROC continued to maintain close ties with the Kremlin enjoying the patronage of president Vladimir Putin, who has sought to mobilize Russian Orthodoxy both inside and outside Russia.[116][117] Patriarch Kirill endorsed Putin's election in 2012, referring in February to Putin's tenure in the 2000s as "God's miracle".[118][119] Nevertheless, Russian inside sources were quoted in the autumn 2017 as saying that Putin's relationship with Patriarch Kirill had been deteriorating since 2014 due to the fact that the presidential administration had been misled by the Moscow Patriarchate as to the extent of support for pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine; also, due to Kirill's personal unpopularity he had come to be viewed as a political liability.[120][121][122]

Schism with Constantinople

See also: 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism

In 2018, the Moscow Patriarchate's traditional rivalry with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, coupled with Moscow's anger over the decision to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian church by the Ecumenical Patriarch, led the ROC to boycott the Holy Great Council that had been prepared by all the Orthodox Churches for decades.[123][124]

The Holy Synod of the ROC, at its session on 15 October 2018,

severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[125][126] The decision was taken in response to the move made by the Patriarchate of Constantinople a few days prior that effectively ended the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction over Ukraine and promised autocephaly to Ukraine,[127] the ROC's and the Kremlin's fierce opposition notwithstanding.[116][128][129][130]

While the Ecumenical Patriarchate finalised the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on 5 January 2019, the ROC continued to claim that the only legitimate Orthodox jurisdiction in the country, was its branch.[131] Under a law of Ukraine adopted at the end of 2018, the latter was required to change its official title so as to disclose its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church based in an "aggressor state".[132][133] On 11 December 2019 the Supreme Court of Ukraine allowed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to retain its name.[134]

In October 2019, the ROC unilaterally severed communion with the Church of Greece following the latter's recognition of the Ukrainian autocephaly.[135] On 3 November, Patriarch Kirill failed to commemorate the Primate of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, during a liturgy in Moscow.[136] Additionally, the ROC leadership imposed pilgrimage bans for its faithful in respect of a number of dioceses in Greece, including that of Athens.[137]

On 8 November 2019, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that Patriarch Kirill would stop commemorating the

his Church recognized the OCU that same day.[138][139][140]

On 27 September 2021, the ROC established a religious day of remembrance for all Eastern Orthodox Christians which were persecuted by the Soviet regime. This day is the 30 October.[141][142]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia-born Metropolitan Innocent (Vasilyev) [ru] of Vilnius condemned "Russia's war against Ukraine" and is determined to seek greater independence from Moscow.[143]

Metropolitan

Onufriy of Kyiv, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) called the war "a disaster" stating that "The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper Baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either from God or from people".[144] He also appealed directly to Putin, asking for an immediate end to the "fratricidal war".[145][146] In April 2022, after the Russian invasion, many UOC-MP parishes signaled their intention to switch allegiance to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.[147] The attitude and stance of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to the war is one of the oft quoted reasons.[143] The head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Lithuania, Metropolitan Innocent (Vasilyev) [ru], called Patriarch Kirill's "political statements about the war" his "personal opinion".[143] On 7 March 2022, Aleksandrs Kudrjašovs, head of the Latvian Orthodox Church, condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[148]

On 27 February 2022, a group of 286 Russian Orthodox priests published an open letter calling for an end to the war and criticised the suppression of non-violent

anti-war protests in Russia.[149] On 6 March 2022, Russian Orthodox priest of Moscow Patriarchate's Kostroma Diocese was fined by Russian authorities for anti-war sermon and stressing the importance of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill".[150] Some priests in the Russian Orthodox Church have publicly opposed the invasion, with some facing arrest under the Russian 2022 war censorship laws.[151][152][153] In Kazakhstan, Russian Orthodox priest Iakov Vorontsov, who signed an open letter condemning the invasion of Ukraine, was forced to resign.[154] Former Russian Orthodox priest Father Grigory Michnov-Vaytenko, head of the Russian Apostolic Church [ru] — a recognized religious organization founded by other dissident priests such as Father Gleb Yakunin — said that "The [Russian Orthodox] church now works like the commissars did in the Soviet Union. And people of course see it. People don't like it. Especially after February [2022], a lot of people have left the church, both priests and people who were there for years."[155]

"We do not want to fight with anyone. Russia has never attacked anyone. It is surprising that a large and powerful country has never attacked anyone, it has only defended its borders."[156]
St. George's church in the Sviatohirsk Lavra complex after Russian shelling in May 2022

Patriarch Kirill has referred to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as "current events" and has avoided using terms like war or invasion,[157] thereby complying with Russian censorship law.[158] Kirill approves the invasion, and has blessed the Russian soldiers fighting there. As a consequence, several priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine have stopped mentioning Kirill's name during the divine service.[159] The Moscow patriarchate views Ukraine as a part of their "canonical territory". Kirill has said that the Russian army has chosen a very correct way.[160]

Kirill sees

gay pride parades as a part of the reason behind Russian warfare against Ukraine.[161] He has said that the war is not physically, but rather metaphysically, important.[162]

In the days after the world learned about the 2022 Bucha massacre by Russian invaders of Ukraine, Kirill said that his faithful should be to ready "protect our home" under any circumstance.[163]

On 6 March 2022 (

referencing the Gospel of John.[165]

On 9 March 2022, after the liturgy, he declared that Russia has the right to use force against Ukraine to ensure Russia's security, that Ukrainians and Russians are one people, that Russia and Ukraine are one country, that the West incites Ukrainians to kill Russians to sow discord between Russians and Ukrainians and gives weapons to Ukrainians for this specific purpose, and therefore the West is an enemy of Russia and God.[166]

In a letter to the World Council of Churches (WCC) sent in March 2022, Kirill justified the attack on Ukraine by NATO enlargement, the protection of Russian language, and the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In this letter, he did not express condolences over deaths among Ukrainians.[167][168]

Kirill participated in a Zoom video call with Pope Francis on 16 March 2022, of which Francis stated in an interview[169] that Kirill "read from a piece of paper he was holding in his hand all the reasons that justify the Russian invasion."[170]

Representatives of the Vatican have criticized Kirill for his lack of willingness to seek peace in Ukraine.[171] On 3 April, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said there was a strong case for expelling the Russian Orthodox Church from the WCC, saying, "When a Church is actively supporting a war of aggression, failing to condemn nakedly obvious breaches of any kind of ethical conduct in wartime, then other Churches do have the right to raise the question ... I am still waiting for any senior member of the Orthodox hierarchy to say that the slaughter of the innocent is condemned unequivocally by all forms of Christianity."[172]

The Russian Orthodox St Nicholas church in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has declared that it is no longer possible to function within the Moscow patriarchate because of the attitude that Kirill has taken to the Russian invasion, and instead requested to join the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[173] The Russian Orthodox Church in Lithuania has declared that they do not share the political views and perception of Kirill and therefore are seeking independence from Moscow.[174]

On 10 April 2022, 200 priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) released an open request to the primates of the other autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches, asking them to convene a Council of Primates of the Ancient Eastern Churches at the Pan-Orthodox level and try Kirill for the heresy of preaching the "Doctrine of the Russian world" and the moral crimes of "blessing the war against Ukraine and fully supporting the aggressive nature of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine." They noted that they "can't continue to remain in any form of canonical subordination to the Moscow Patriarch," and requested that the Council of Primates "bring Patriarch Kirill to justice and deprive him of the right to hold the patriarchal throne."[175][176]

When the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) removed itself from the Moscow Patriarchate on 27 May 2022, Kirill claimed that the "spirits of malice" wanted to separate the Russian and Ukrainian peoples but they will not succeed.[177] The Ukrainian church released a declaration in which it stated "it had adopted relevant additions and changes to the Statute on the Administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which testify to the complete autonomy and independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."[178] The church did not publish its new constitution.[179] Although in this Ukrainian Orthodox Church clergymen now claims that 'any provisions that at least somehow hinted at or indicated the connection with Moscow were excluded' the Russian Orthodox Church ignores this and continues to include UOC-MP clerics in its various commissions or working groups despite these individuals not agreeing to this nor even wanting to be included.[180]

Kirill with Volodin, Medvedev, Lavrov, Shoigu and other prominent figures of the Putin regime during Putin's Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly on 21 February 2023

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that the patriarch's legitimization of the "brutal and absurd war" is "a heresy."[181]

Kirill supported the mobilization of citizens to go to the front in Ukraine, he urged citizens to fulfill their military duty and that if they gave their lives for their country they will be with God in his kingdom.[182][183][184]

North Macedonia and Bulgaria expelled senior members of the Russian Orthodox Church for acts contravening their national security in 2023, raising questions about the church using their position to spy and to spread Russian political propaganda.

Patriarch Bartholomew criticised the Russian church, which he says is teaching a "theology of war". "This is the theology that the sister Church of Russia began to teach, trying to justify an unjust, unholy, unprovoked, diabolical war against a sovereign and independent country – Ukraine."[186] In January 2024, the senior priest of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Ostankino, Moscow, was removed from his post for calling for peace.[187]

During the

sub-ethnic groups of the Russians".[188]

On August 20, 2024, the

Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations" [uk].[189][190] Ukrainian religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church will be banned 9 months from the moment the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience [uk] issues the order, if this religious organization does not sever relations with the Russian Orthodox Church in accordance with Orthodox canon law.[191][192][193]

Structure and organization

See also: Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church
Kirill is the current Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'

The ROC constituent parts in other than the Russian Federation countries of its exclusive jurisdiction such as Ukraine, Belarus et al., are legally registered as separate legal entities in accordance with the relevant legislation of those independent states.

Ecclesiastiacally, the ROC is organized in a hierarchical structure. The lowest level of organization, which normally would be a single ROC building and its attendees, headed by a priest who acts as Father superior (

archiereus
). There are 261 Russian Orthodox eparchies worldwide (June 2012).

Further, some eparchies may be organized into exarchates (currently the Belarusian exarchate), and since 2003 into metropolitan districts (митрополичий округ), such as the ROC eparchies in Kazakhstan and the Central Asia (Среднеазиатский митрополичий округ).

Cathedral of the Annunciation in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan

Since the early 1990s, the ROC eparchies in some newly independent states of the former USSR enjoy the status of

Moldovan Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP), the last one being virtually fully independent in administrative matters. (Following Russia's 2014 Invasion of Ukraine, the UOC-MP—which held nearly a third of the ROC(MP)'s churches—began to fragment, particularly since 2019, with some separatist congregations leaving the ROC(MP) to join the newly independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) despite strident objections from the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian government.[194][123]
)

Similar status, since 2007, is enjoyed by the

Japanese Orthodox Churches
were granted full autonomy by the Moscow Patriarchate, but this autonomy is not universally recognized.

Smaller eparchies are usually governed by a single bishop. Larger eparchies, exarchates, and self-governing Churches are governed by a Metropolitan archbishop and sometimes also have one or more bishops assigned to them.

The highest level of authority in the ROC is vested in the

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
, Primate of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Although the Patriarch of Moscow enjoys extensive administrative powers, unlike the

Urban Diocese of Moscow[citation needed], nor does he have single-handed authority over matters pertaining to faith as well as issues concerning the entire Orthodox Christian community such as the Catholic-Orthodox split
.

Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

Main article: Orthodox Church in America
A commemoration service for the victims of the September 11 attacks at St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City

The OCA has its origins in a mission established by eight Russian Orthodox monks in Alaska, then part of Russian America, in 1794. This grew into a full diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. By the late 19th century, the Russian Orthodox Church had grown in other areas of the United States due to the arrival of immigrants from areas of Eastern and Central Europe, many of them formerly of the Eastern Catholic Churches ("Greek Catholics"), and from the Middle East. These immigrants, regardless of nationality or ethnic background, were united under a single North American diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the

communion
with the OCA. The Patriarchate of Moscow thereby renounced its former canonical claims in the United States and Canada; it also acknowledged the establishment of an autonomous church in Japan in 1970.

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)

Main article:
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Timeline of some Churches which came from within the ROCOR

Russia's Church was devastated by the repercussions of the Bolshevik Revolution. One of its effects was a flood of refugees from Russia to the United States, Canada, and Europe. The Revolution of 1918 severed large sections of the Russian church—dioceses in America, Japan, and Manchuria, as well as refugees in Europe—from regular contacts with the main church.

On 28 December 2006, it was officially announced that the Act of Canonical Communion would finally be signed between the ROC and ROCOR. The signing took place on 17 May 2007, followed immediately by a full restoration of communion with the Moscow Patriarchate, celebrated by a Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, at which the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexius II and the First Hierarch of ROCOR concelebrated for the first time.

Under the Act, the ROCOR remains a self-governing entity within the Church of Russia. It is independent in its administrative, pastoral, and property matters. It continues to be governed by its Council of Bishops and its Synod, the council's permanent executive body. The First-Hierarch and bishops of the ROCOR are elected by its council and confirmed by the Patriarch of Moscow. ROCOR bishops participate in the Council of Bishops of the entire Russian Church.

In response to the signing of the act of canonical communion, Bishop Agathangel (Pashkovsky) of Odesa and parishes and clergy in opposition to the Act broke communion with ROCOR, and established

Greek Old Calendarist groups.[197]

Currently both the OCA and ROCOR, since 2007, are in communion with the ROC.

Self-governing branches of the ROC

Interior of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, near Yalta, Crimea.

The Russian Orthodox Church has four levels of self-government.[198][199][clarification needed]

The autonomous churches which are part of the ROC are:

  1. Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), a special status autonomy close to autocephaly
  2. Self-governed churches (
    Moldova
    , Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia)
  3. Belarusian Orthodox Church, an exarchate; Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia; Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe; Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa
  4. Pakistan Orthodox Church
  5. Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan
  6. Japanese Orthodox Church
  7. Chinese Orthodox Church

Although the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) claims that 'any provisions that at least somehow hinted at or indicated the connection with

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) the Russian Orthodox Church ignores this and continues to include UOC-MP clerics in various commissions or working groups despite these individuals not agreeing to this nor even wanting to be included.[200]

Worship and practices

The Russian cross. The slanted bottom bar represents the footrest.

Canonization

See also:
List of Russian saints

In accordance with the practice of the Orthodox Church, a particular hero of faith can initially be canonized only at a local level within local churches and eparchies. Such rights belong to the ruling hierarch and it can only happen when the blessing of the patriarch is received. The task of believers of the local eparchy is to record descriptions of miracles, to create the hagiography of a saint, to paint an icon, as well as to compose a liturgical text of a service where the saint is canonized. All of this is sent to the Synodal Commission for canonization which decides whether to canonize the local hero of faith or not. Then the patriarch gives his blessing and the local hierarch performs the act of canonization at the local level. However, the liturgical texts in honor of a saint are not published in all Church books but only in local publications. In the same way, these saints are not yet canonized and venerated by the whole Church, only locally. When the glorification of a saint exceeds the limits of an eparchy, then the patriarch and Holy Synod decides about their canonization on the Church level. After receiving the Synod's support and the patriarch's blessing, the question of glorification of a particular saint on the scale of the entire Church is given for consideration to the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the period following the revolution, and during the communist persecutions up to 1970, no canonizations took place. In 1970, the Holy Synod decided to canonize a missionary to Japan, Nicholas Kasatkin (1836–1912). In 1977, St. Innocent of Moscow (1797–1879), the Metropolitan of Siberia, the Far East, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and Moscow was also canonized. In 1978 it was proclaimed that the Russian Orthodox Church had created a prayer order for Meletius of Kharkov, which practically signified his canonization because that was the only possible way to do it at that time. Similarly, the saints of other Orthodox Churches were added to the Church calendar: in 1962 St. John the Russian, in 1970 St. Herman of Alaska, in 1993 Silouan the Athonite, the elder of Mount Athos, already canonized in 1987 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the 1980s the Russian Orthodox Church re-established the process for canonization; a practice that had ceased for half a century.

In 1989, the Holy Synod established the Synodal Commission for canonization. The 1990 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church gave an order for the Synodal Commission for Canonisation to prepare documents for canonization of new martyrs who had suffered from the 20th century Communist repressions. In 1991 it was decided that a local commission for canonization would be established in every eparchy which would gather the local documents and would send them to the Synodal Commission. Its task was to study the local archives, collect memories of believers, record all the miracles that are connected with addressing the martyrs. In 1992 the Church established 25 January as a day when it venerates the new 20th century martyrs of faith. The day was specifically chosen because on this day in 1918 the Metropolitan of Kiev Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) was killed, thus becoming the first victim of communist terror among the hierarchs of the Church.

During the 2000 Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the greatest general canonization in the history of the Orthodox Church took place: not only regarding the number of saints but also as in this canonization, all unknown saints were mentioned. There were 1,765 canonized saints known by name and others unknown by name but "known to God".[201]

Icon painting

Main article: Russian icons
Andrei Rublev Trinity c. 1400

The use and making of icons entered Kievan Rus' following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in AD 988. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, led from the capital in Constantinople. As time passed, the Russians widened the vocabulary of types and styles far beyond anything found elsewhere in the Orthodox world. Russian icons are typically paintings on wood, often small, though some in churches and monasteries may be much larger. Some Russian icons were made of copper.[202] Many religious homes in Russia have icons hanging on the wall in the krasny ugol, the "red" or "beautiful" corner. There is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons. In Russian churches, the nave is typically separated from the sanctuary by an iconostasis (Russian ikonostas, иконостас), or icon-screen, a wall of icons with double doors in the centre. Russians sometimes speak of an icon as having been "written", because in the Russian language (like Greek, but unlike English) the same word (pisat', писать in Russian) means both to paint and to write. Icons are considered to be the Gospel in paint, and therefore careful attention is paid to ensure that the Gospel is faithfully and accurately conveyed. Icons considered miraculous were said to "appear". The "appearance" (Russian: yavlenie, явление) of an icon is its supposedly miraculous discovery. "A true icon is one that has 'appeared', a gift from above, one opening the way to the Prototype and able to perform miracles".[203]

Ecumenism and interfaith relations

Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem

In May 2011,

Christian communions on such issues.[204]

The Metropolitan also believes in the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Islam and Christianity because the two religions have never fought religious wars in Russia.[205] Alfeyev stated that the Russian Orthodox Church "disagrees with atheist secularism in some areas very strongly" and "believes that it destroys something very essential about human life."[205]

Today, the Russian Orthodox Church has ecclesiastical missions in Jerusalem and some other countries around the world.[206][207]

Membership

Percentage of followers of the ROC in the Russian Federation

The ROC is often said

Orthodox Christian,[217] and in 2021, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) estimated that 66% of Russians were Orthodox Christians.[218]

See also

References

Notes

  1. Saint Andrew is also thought to have visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea.[5][6]
  2. Church Slavonic
    : Рꙋ́сскаѧ правосла́внаѧ цр҃ковь.

Citations

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  2. ^ "Доклад Святейшего Патриарха Кирилла на Епархиальном собрании г. Москвы (20 декабря 2019 года) / Патриарх / Патриархия.ru". www.patriarchia.ru (in Russian).
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Sources

Further reading

Since 1991

  • Daniel, Wallace L. The Orthodox Church and Civil Society in Russia (2006) online Archived 21 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  • Evans, Geoffrey, and Ksenia Northmore‐Ball. "The Limits of Secularization? The Resurgence of Orthodoxy in Post‐Soviet Russia." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 51#4 (2012): 795–808. online
  • Garrard, John and Carol Garrard. Russian Orthodoxy Resurgent: Faith and Power in the New Russia (2008). online Archived 13 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  • Kahla, Elina. "Civil Religion in Russia." Baltic worlds: scholarly journal: news magazine (2014). online
  • McGann, Leslie L. "The Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Aleksii II and the Russian State: An Unholy Alliance?." Demokratizatsiya 7#1 (1999): 12+ online
  • Papkova, Irina. "The Russian Orthodox Church and political party platforms." Journal of Church and State (2007) 49#1: 117–34. online
  • Papkova, Irina, and Dmitry P. Gorenburg. "The Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Politics: Editors' Introduction." Russian Politics & Law 49#1 (2011): 3–7. introduction to special issue
  • Pankhurst, Jerry G., and Alar Kilp. "Religion, the Russian Nation and the State: Domestic and International Dimensions: An Introduction." Religion, State and Society 41.3 (2013): 226–43.
  • Payne, Daniel P. "Spiritual security, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Russian Foreign Ministry: collaboration or cooptation?." Journal of Church and State (2010): summary online[dead link‍]
  • Richters, Katja. The Post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church: Politics, Culture and Greater Russia (2014)

Historical

  • Billington, James H. The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretative History of Russian Culture (1970)
  • Bremer, Thomas. Cross and Kremlin: A Brief History of the Orthodox Church in Russia (2013)
  • Cracraft, James. The Church Reform of Peter the Great (1971)
  • Ellis, Jane. The Russian Orthodox Church: A Contemporary History (1988)
  • Freeze, Gregory L. "Handmaiden of the state? The church in Imperial Russia reconsidered."
    Journal of Ecclesiastical History
     36#1 (1985): 82–102.
  • Freeze, Gregory L. "Subversive piety: Religion and the political crisis in late Imperial Russia."
    Journal of Modern History (1996): 308–50. in JSTOR
  • Freeze, Gregory L. "The Orthodox Church and Serfdom in Prereform Russia." Slavic Review (1989): 361–87. in JSTOR
  • Freeze, Gregory L. "Social Mobility and the Russian Parish Clergy in the Eighteenth Century." Slavic Review (1974): 641–62. in JSTOR
  • Freeze, Gregory L. The Parish Clergy in Nineteenth-Century Russia: Crisis, Reform, Counter-Reform (1983)
  • Freeze, Gregory L. "A case of stunted Anticlericalism: Clergy and Society in Imperial Russia." European History Quarterly 13#.2 (1983): 177–200.
  • Freeze, Gregory L. Russian Levites: Parish Clergy in the Eighteenth Century (1977)
  • Gruber, Isaiah. Orthodox Russia in Crisis: Church and Nation in the Time of Troubles (2012); 17th century
  • Hughes, Lindsey. Russia in the Age of Peter the Great (1998) pp. 332–56
  • Kizenko, Nadieszda. A Prodigal Saint: Father John of Kronstadt and the Russian People (2000) This highly influential holy man lived 1829–1908.
  • Kozelsky, Mara. Christianizing Crimea: Shaping Sacred Space in the Russian Empire and Beyond (2010).
  • de Madariaga, Isabel. Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great (1981) pp. 111–22
  • Mrowczynski-Van Allen, Artur, ed. Apology of Culture: Religion and Culture in Russian Thought (2015)
  • Pipes, Richard. Russia under the Old Regime (2nd ed. 1976) ch 9
  • Strickland, John. The Making of Holy Russia: The Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism Before the Revolution (2013)

Historiography

Media related to Russian Orthodox Church at Wikimedia Commons

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