Home Fortune telling Suzdal split. Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (rpats). Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

Fortune telling

Suzdal split. Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (rpats). Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

The Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (abbreviated ROAC; until 1998 - the Russian Orthodox Free Church) is one of the religious organizations of (alternative) Orthodoxy of the Russian tradition; is not recognized by any of the Local Orthodox Churches and does not have Eucharistic communion with them.
Sees himself as the legitimate heir of the historical Orthodox Russian Church.
In the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and the media, it is designated “Suzdal Schism.”

The First Hierarch of the ROAC is Theodore (Gineevsky) with the title “Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir.” At the beginning of 2009, the ROAC had jurisdiction over about 90 parishes and about 60 priests, as well as the Suzdal Theological School. The ROAC in the USA is represented by Bishop Andrei (Maklakov) of Pavlovsk. Since the mid-2000s, due to the transfer of priests and parishioners to other jurisdictions, as well as the confiscation of churches from the ROAC, the number of parishes has decreased.

Vladimir Church on Bozhedomka - Yaroslavl parish of the ROAC

ROAC Temple at Golovinskoye Cemetery in Moscow

Russian Orthodox Free Church under the jurisdiction of the ROCOR

Tsar Constantine Church in Suzdal, former cathedral of the ROAC

The basis for the emergence of the ROAC was the “Regulations on Free Parishes” adopted on May 15, 1990 by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), which proclaimed the ROCOR’s course towards establishing its own (parallel to the ROC) church structures (dioceses, deaneries and parishes) within the USSR. In April 1990, Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov) of the Suzdal diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, who had previously refused to fulfill the decree of Archbishop Valentin (Mishchuk) to transfer him to another city, transferred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad along with his parish, as a result of which, by the definition of the Holy Synod, the Russian Orthodox Church was banned from the priesthood.

The acceptance of Archimandrite Valentin into the jurisdiction of the Russian Church Abroad received a wide public response and served as an example for several dozen parish communities in various regions of the country (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Kaliningrad, Bryansk, Penza regions, Stavropol and Primorsky Territories and others).

By the decision of the hierarchy of the Russian Church Abroad, the “Russian Orthodox Free Church” (ROC) was proclaimed on the basis of Russian parishes, and Archimandrite Valentin was appointed Exarch of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR in Russia.

Initially, the Russian Orthodox Free Church consisted of three communities:
at the Tsar Constantine Church in Suzdal and 2 communities in the Suzdal region, which made up the Suzdal diocese.
By the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, Valentin was ordained bishop with the title of Suzdal and Vladimir.
Bishop Valentin, gradually distancing himself from the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, on June 22, 1993, together with Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko), who had been illegally caring for members of the ROCOR in the USSR since 1982, withdrew from subordination to the jurisdiction of the ROCOR, remaining with it “in prayerful unity and Eucharistic communion” , after which Valentin and Lazar were sent to rest by the Synod of the ROCOR. In March 1994, Valentin and Lazar announced that they were switching to autonomous self-government, after which, without the knowledge of the Church Abroad, they ordained three new bishops and created the so-called “Temporary Higher Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Free Church” (VVTsU RPTS). In connection with the threat from the Synod to be banned from serving, in the winter of 1994, at the Council of Bishops in France, Bishops Valentin and Lazar brought repentance to the Church Abroad, signing the Act of dissolution of the illegal VVTsU. However, upon returning to Russia, they announced non-recognition of the decisions of the Council and the further activities of the All-Russian Orthodox Church, after which on February 24, 1995, the Synod of the ROCOR for leaving in schism all 5 bishops were banned from serving, and the Vladimir-Suzdal and Odessa departments were declared widowers. On March 14, 1995, at a meeting of the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church, the bishops banned from serving announced their non-recognition of the definitions of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as “contrary to the holy canons.” The Synod of the Church Abroad issued a warning that in case of unrepentance, all bishops who had gone into schism would be defrocked. After this, the chairman of the All-Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Lazar, and his newly ordained suffragan Bishop Agafangel (Pashkovsky) returned with repentance to the ROCOR. Bishop Valentin and the rest of the bishops of the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church refused to repent and were defrocked by the ROCOR Council of Bishops in 1996.

By this time, the Russian Orthodox Church had 6 bishops and about 150 parishes. The core of the clergy were former clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate. Among those who transferred to the new formation was Mikhail Ardov, who left the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in the summer of 1993 and became a clergyman of the Suzdal diocese.

After separation from ROCOR

After Archbishop Lazar brought repentance and returned to the ROCOR, the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church was headed by Bishop Valentin, who was soon elevated to the rank of archbishop. His Suzdal diocese became the center of the new church. In October 1998, the old name “Russian Orthodox Free Church” was replaced by ROAC during registration. According to Mikhail Ardov, the word “autonomous” had to be added to the name (“the Ministry of Justice slapped this on us”) since the name “Russian Orthodox Church” was assigned to the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 2001, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church decided to elevate Archbishop Valentin (Rusantsov) to the rank of metropolitan with the right to wear two panagias.

In 2001, the former secretary of the synod, Archpriest Andrei Osetrov and Protodeacon Dimitry Krasovsky, broke away from the ROAC, who moved to the Russian Orthodox Church and became critics of Metropolitan Valentin.

In 2002, a scandal erupted: In February, a hearing began in the Suzdal City Court in the case of Metropolitan Valentin (Rusantsov), who was accused of crimes of a sexual nature involving minors. The trial received increased attention from the press. The Metropolitan was given a suspended sentence in 2002, but was completely rehabilitated in 2004.

In 2004, Bishop Gregory (Abu-Assal) disobeys the demands of the Synod and creates the ROAC in America. By the beginning of 2006, most of the parishes in foreign countries (USA, Bulgaria, England) were lost, and, in most cases, this was due to the incompetent personnel policy of the metropolitan.

In the fall of 2006, a process began in the arbitration court of the Vladimir region, the basis for which was the demand of the territorial administration of the Federal Property Management Agency to withdraw 13 Suzdal churches from use from the ROAC.

In May 2007, a new, alternative center was formed in Bezhetsk (Tver region) - the “Provisional Church Council” (TCC ROAC) under Bishop Sevastian (Zhatkov) of Chelyabinsk, which united several parishes that had left the subordination of the ROAC synod. The Synod of the ROAC did not recognize this body, and canonical punishments were applied to its members, including the anathematization of Sebastian.

On February 8-11, 2008, the first Council of Bishops in the history of this church jurisdiction was held in Suzdal.

On November 5, 2008, a final split occurred in the ROAC, as a result of which Sebastian (Zhatkov) and Ambrosy (Epifanov) transformed the “Provisional Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church” into a new non-canonical religious organization, which received the name “Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church” and on the next day, hegumen Gregory (Lurie), banned by Valentin (Rusantsov), was ordained “Bishop of Petrograd and Gdov.” The latter was elected Chairman of the “Bishops' Conference of the ROAC.” At the end of 2011, three parishes in Chelyabinsk, Zlatoust and St. Petersburg, as well as individual laity living in other cities, are subordinate to the “Bishops' Conference of the ROAC.”

Confiscation of temples

On February 5, 2009, the Arbitration Court of the Vladimir Region, at the request of the Federal Property Management Agency, decided to confiscate 13 churches from the ROAC due to the lack of an agreement for their use. In the inspection reports of churches presented to the court by the State Property Committee, “violations in the operation of religious buildings were noted.” Representatives of the ROAC stated that they do not intend to give up the churches in any development of events. On August 12, 2009, the Suzdal Diocesan Administration of the ROAC was visited by bailiffs from the Office of the Federal Bailiff Service for the Vladimir Region and officially announced the initiation of enforcement proceedings against the Suzdal Diocese of the ROAC in favor of the Vladimir Terrestrial Administration of the Federal Property Management Agency and presented writs of execution issued by the Vladimir Arbitration Court.

On September 11, 2009, the Office of the Federal Bailiff Service for the Vladimir Region completed enforcement proceedings on the decisions of the Arbitration Court of the Vladimir Region on the liberation of 10 churches in the city of Suzdal from the ROAC communities that occupied them: officially the churches were completely liberated from their previous owners; At the end of the service, Elena Kostrova, an official representative of the Vladimir Terminus of the Federal Property Management Agency, entered the Tsar Konstantinovsky Church (ROAC Cathedral), cleared of movable property, and announced that her department had entered into the management of the building. By October, 14 churches in Suzdal had been confiscated from the ROAC in favor of the state, and proceedings were underway for another six, located in the vicinity of the city. The buildings, erected in the 15th-19th centuries, were returned, according to the plaintiff's representatives, in poor condition. Rosimushchestvo representative Vladimir Gorlanov said that the buildings began to collapse despite the fact that large sums were transferred from abroad for restoration. It should be noted that in the early 1990s. The ROAC (then the Suzdal diocese of the ROCOR) received them in a state of ruins.

At the end of November, the acting head of the Vladimir Tererographic Directorate of the Federal Property Management Agency, Vladimir Gorlanov, sent a letter to the Suzdal Department of Internal Affairs with a request to initiate a criminal case against the ROAC and its head. The document talks about “violation of wall structures” in connection with the dismantling of the heating system in some churches, about the “destruction of ancient frescoes” and the application of new ones that do not correspond to the historical painting, and about the application of notches to the frescoes of the Church of John the Baptist. The notches on the walls of the Church of St. John the Baptist, which was converted into a warehouse during Soviet times, were, according to the previous owners, caused by government officials while covering the frescoes with plaster.

On December 4, 2009, a claim was filed with the European Court of Human Rights. In December, three churches in Suzdal seized from the ROAC, Kresto-Nikolsky, Lazarevsky and Antipyevsky, were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. Archpriest Anatoly Sigida was temporarily appointed rector of the temples.

On January 7, 2010, a new temporary church of Tsar Constantine was consecrated in Suzdal, into which the attic of a two-story diocesan house on Vasilyevskaya Street in the center of Suzdal was converted.

On February 16, 2010, the Vladimir Arbitration Court ruled to satisfy three claims of the Department of Property and Land Relations (DIZO) of the Vladimir Region Administration against the ROAC communities; According to the court decision, the ROAC must vacate and transfer to the DIZO the churches of St. Ephraim the Syrian in the village of Omutskoye, St. George the Victorious in the village of Krapivye and the Archangel Michael in the village of Ivanovskoye, Suzdal district, Vladimir region.

On February 24, 2010, the Arbitration Court of the Vladimir Region made a decision to confiscate the Church of St. from the ROAC. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the village of Ves.

On June 9, the Vladimir Arbitration Court made a decision to confiscate from the ROAC the churches of St. Basil the Great in the village of Borisovskoye (rector Father Arkady Makovetsky) and St. John the Baptist in the village of Pavlovsk, Suzdal region.

Current state

In October 2010, three of the 11 priests that the ROAC had in Suzdal and the region moved to the Moscow Patriarchate.
In February 2011, 2 episcopal consecrations took place.
In June 2011, the only parish of the ROAC in Argentina transferred to the RTOC.
On January 16, 2012, the First Hierarch of the ROAC, Valentin (Rusantsov), died.

Hierarchs

Theodore (Gineevsky), Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir;
- Seraphim (Zinchenko), Archbishop of Sukhumi and Abkhazia;
- Victor (Kontuzorov), Archbishop of Daugavpils and Latvia;
- Hilarion, Archbishop of Smelyansk;
- Timofey (Sharov), Bishop of Orenburg and Kurgan;
- Irinarch (Nonchin), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk;
- Andrey (Maklakov), Bishop of Pavlovsk;
- Jacob (Antonov), Bishop of Sukhodolsky;
- Trofim (Tarasov), Bishop of Simbirsk;
- Mark (Rassokha), Bishop of Armavir and the Black Sea

Former hierarchs

Arseny (Kiselev), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk (April 16, 1995 - summer 1996);
- Alexander (Mironov), Bishop of Kazan and Mari (April 1995 - November 1997);
- Gregory (Abu Assal), Archbishop of Denver (banned in 2004);
- Anthony (Grabbe), retired (died in 2005);
- Sevastian (Zhatkov), Bishop of Chelyabinsk (banned in 2007, anathematized in 2008);
- Ambrose (Epifanov), Bishop of Khabarovsk (declared his administrative independence in 2008);
- Anthony (Aristov), Archbishop of Yaran and Vyatka (died in 2009);
- Valentin (Rusantsov), Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (died in 2012).

Synodal Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Synod of Bishops of the ROAC

Any schism in the Church is a consequence of the disease of society. When the spirit of rebellion dominates in a society, which was especially clearly observed during the years of the revolution, it is immediately picked up by all those who want to be in power, to show their best side, rejecting all the good old things, and sometimes slandering their opponent. People who are weak-willed and do not care about the schism fall into the hands of demons, but when they find themselves in a difficult situation, they support it. Some people innocently consider schismatics to be right, because they really see the state of affairs, which is full of sin. However, when someone in the family is sick, they do not throw him out into the street, saying: “Go, find yourself another home, and don’t infect us!”, but they take out medicine and take care of the sick person. Those “guilty” who believe that the church can become graceless if its ministers behave inappropriately will not find excuses. The holy saints of God answered this question long ago. The Orthodox Church preserves its faith unchanged due to the fact that no one has the right to change the Holy Scriptures, no one can excommunicate the entire believing people from the faith, no one can destroy a person’s conscience. Even if there is an wicked servant at the Throne of God (but not a heretic, otherwise he will be excommunicated), then the Sacrament will be performed for him by an Angel in an invisible way, albeit through the hands of this person, since our Lord Jesus Christ accepts the repentance of the penitent while he is capable of it. If wickedness increases to the point of madness, and he is no longer able to commit repentance for mortal sin (murder, drunkenness, adultery), he will be excommunicated. Just as a ray of sunlight passes through glass without ceasing to be a ray, so faith cannot be changed, no matter what glass it passes through. Although, of course, the more pious the shepherd, the clearer his glass, the better the light is visible to people. However, because the glass darkens, the ray will not turn into darkness, but, bouncing off the firebrand, will pass through another glass.

Is God Abandoning His Chosen People? No. Even the firebrand is heated by the heat of the sun. Just as the sun cannot go out, so God’s love cannot cease. God is waiting for everyone to repent and can help at any moment if he hears a repentant “I’m sorry.”

Schhismatics, as a rule, do not accept the possibility of correcting a person, looking for a reason to create a new Church, truly Orthodox. This is one of the catacomb Churches - the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. “After the October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War in Russia,” she declares, “the united Greek-Russian Church was divided administratively - first by the front line, and then by the borders of the USSR - into two parts: the Church existing in the fatherland (later, as "Increasing persecution of Orthodoxy, it went illegal and became the Catacomb) and the Church Abroad (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - ROCOR) ... Both parts of the Russian Church refused any form of cooperation with the godless Soviet government, which aimed at the complete destruction of religion in the country." And why remember the Orthodox Church, when before, it turns out, there was only the Greek-Russian one? Why collect grains of wisdom so as not to leave your people completely without faith? The Russian Orthodox Church was declared godless, as was the government to which it was subordinate, but do they have the right to judge those thanks to whom the Church remained alive even during the Soviet years? Yes, believers were persecuted, they were spied on, they were not given promotion in the service, they were kicked out of work, but the people made their choice themselves. While the priests read the sermon, relying on the decrees of the Government, the same priests waged an invisible, spiritual struggle, standing for the faith, working on the soul, which should not submit to sin, but act as Christ Himself said: “God’s things to God, and what is Caesar's is to Caesar."

Meanwhile, schismatics have already managed to declare the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church as such, pointing out that it is ruled by Stalin: “Stalin, for political purposes, united the remnants of the Renovationist and Sergian schismatic groups into the new official church of the USSR, which was given the name “Russian Orthodox Church” ( Russian Orthodox Church)". It is impossible to imagine a more logical outcome - everything fits well into the context of the activities of people who want to destroy the unity of the Church, but do not understand the meaning of their existence. “To manage this structure, a special Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was created, which included career NKVD officers. Formally, the ROC was headed by the head of the Sergian schism (whose name this schism bears) - Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who five days after his “historic meeting” with Stalin became “Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.”

Were there actually career officers on the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church? Yes they were. It was thanks to them that the Soviet Government did everything to nullify the activities of many churches. Only they were not priests, with the exception of those who betrayed my faith (and did not change the dogmas of the Orthodox faith), violated mine vow, but continued to perform the Sacraments for valiant services to the Government. But not everyone was like that! Among Christ’s disciples there was also Judas, but did the Lord kick him out, did he separate him from Himself, did He deprive Him of His love for all the years of communication with him? No, God always does everything to save a person, without depriving him of the opportunity to be saved. Christ knew from the very beginning what Judas would do to Him, but did not reject his desire to become His disciple. After the fall of Judas, faith in Christ did not decrease, because it was and is the True Orthodox Faith.

“The ongoing persecution of the Catacomb Church in the USSR led to the fact that by the early 90s of the 20th century, the Russian Catacomb Church no longer had its own hierarchy.” So if God did not favor this Church, did not leave hierarchs who could provide priests, doesn’t this already indicate that the connection with God has been broken? After all, it is said that until the end of the century the Church will stand, and succession will be carried out through the hierarchs also until the end of the ages. But why does the Russian Orthodox Church need to know this? They sought protection for themselves in the ROCOR until the archbishop began to lead it. Lazar: “The inept policy of the ROCOR in Russia led to the ordination in 1982 by foreign hierarchs of Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko), who was distrusted by the majority of the catacombs.” Only after “perestroika” did the catacomb churches feel freedom. In March 1994, Archbishop Lazar and Bishop Valentin switched to autonomous self-government and ordained three new bishops, creating the Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first large parish to come under the jurisdiction of the ROCOR Synod and directly subordinate to Metropolitan Vitaly was the parish of the Tsar Constantine Church in Suzdal. “Their” archimandrites were ordained abroad.

However, a division soon occurred between the Russian and Foreign Churches, as the methods of self-government of Russian parishes increasingly acquired the features of a schism. In 1995, the Synod of the ROCOR banned all 5 bishops from serving, which strengthened the schism. The Russian Church blamed everything on the Foreign Synod, which took a “course of rapprochement with the MP,” which their church seemed to oppose. Thus, recognizing itself as innocently persecuted for its desire for truth, the Russian Church proclaimed the only true power, which belongs only to the All-Russian Local Council, which means “do not interfere in our affairs.” Decision of the Synod of the ROCOR and MP on defrocking the bishop. Valentine were considered non-canonical. The Russian Church, as usual, called such “prohibitions” and “defrocking” “unprecedented lawlessness.”

Having completely lost the protection of the ROCOR, in October 1998 the ROCOR ("Russian Orthodox Free Church") was re-registered under the name "Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church" (ROAC). So now the question of who is the schismatic has become increasingly obvious. The ROAC began to split within itself, splitting into small groups. So, in 2001, a group led by Archpriest Andrei Osetrov broke away, who became one of the ideologists of the persecution of Metropolitan Valentin. In 2004, Bishop Gregory (Abu-Assal) disobeys the demands of the Synod and creates the ROAC in America. From 2005 to 2008 a new jurisdiction is being formed - the Bishops' Conference of the ROAC.

Independence and insubordination, stubborn proof of one’s rightness, pride and an insane desire for power - these are the features of the split. Let us take as an example the actions of representatives of the ROAC in St. Petersburg. The relics of St. were brought to the ROAC Church of St. Elizabeth on Svetlanovsky Prospekt. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Great Martyr Panteleimon, then St. John the Baptist, although it turned out to be a fake. A particle of the relics could be transferred to the parish only with the blessing of the patriarch, which, of course, was not the case. People were encouraged to venerate the relics in a clearly sectarian way: display something that could attract people's attention, give extensive advertising, hang up billboards with the call to “venerate the relics.” Moreover, the rector of the temple, Gregory Lurie, ordained to the ROAC in 2005, was banned from serving for promoting anti-church teachings, but this did not prevent him from serving. O. Gregory was active with young people. He collected teenagers who were prone to suicide from all over the country, created the Center for Suicide Prevention, but out of 24 children involved in communication on a specially created portal, only six remained alive, and the person who helped create it died from poisoning with psychotropic substances.

Another schismatic - Khabarovsk hieromonk Nikanor (Lepeshev). Famous missionary sent for preaching against Patriarch Kirill in taiga village on the BAM. Another good legend is to show your innocence with one expression - exiled for the courage of preaching, i.e. for the truth, i.e. for Christ. But, if you look at the essence of the problem, you can see where the blasphemy is spewing out from - “the main diseases of modern official Orthodoxy, in my understanding, are Sergianism and ecumenism. As a result, the Russian Orthodox Church has become something of a secular organization.” Having recognized a secular organization in the Russian Orthodox Church, the hieromonk renounced Christ, no matter how he justified himself. Moreover, the Russian Orthodox Church does not support ecumenism. If Father Nikanor saw one of the Orthodox in joint service with representatives of other faiths, then this does not concern the opinion of the Church, but the personal participation of this or that person.

Not caring in any way about the unity of the Church, Hieromonk Nikanor declared: “My conscience does not allow me to no longer, as Patriarch, remember a person whom I consider a heretic,” after which he was banned from the priesthood. So who abandoned whom? If a person says that he does not see the truth in Orthodoxy, but sees only a heretic in the patriarch, does he have faith? No, my ears don’t hear: “If I don’t repent, I’ll be defrocked, and then anathematized. But in reality this will mean no more to me than the anathemas of the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury.” I'm right and no one else. The catacomb priest also had a new comparison of the Orthodox faith with the faith of Catholics, who identify the Roman Church and universal Christianity, accordingly, “Orthodoxy” in our country is synonymous with the “Moscow Patriarchate”, but at least one synonymous concept is not given.

What is the difference between service in the ROAC and the Russian Orthodox Church? According to Lepeshev, the only thing is that “instead of Patriarch Kirill during the service, the “Orthodox bishopric of the persecuted Russian Church” is commemorated, the prayer is raised not for the “God-protected Russian state”, but for the “suffering Russian country”... And so outwardly the service is nothing is different". However, this is not true. The differences lie at the root. The prophet Isaiah spoke about such churches: “They are smoke to My smell, a fire that burns every day” (Is. 65:5), “you are cast out outside your tomb, like a despised branch, like the clothing of those slain, slain with the sword, who are thrown into stone ditches - you, like a trampled corpse, will not join them in the grave; for you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people: the generation of evildoers will never be remembered” (Isa. 14: 19-20). The one who said: “I consider it completely impossible for myself to receive communion from the same chalice with Patriarch Kirill and hierarchs of official Orthodoxy like him,” in fact does not receive communion of the Body and Blood of Christ in the ROAC, for the Gifts are not offered in such churches.

Back in 1929, the Synod decided on the attitude of the Orthodox towards sacred rites performed by the schismatic clergy. All Sacraments performed in Renovationism, Gregorianism and Josephiteism (except Baptism) were declared invalid. Converts from the schism “if the latter were baptized in the schism, receive through the Sacrament of Confirmation; marriages concluded in schism are also concluded with a church blessing and the reading of the final prayer in the wedding rite: “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Those who died in Renovationism and in the indicated schisms should not have a funeral service, even if at the urgent request of their relatives, just as the funeral liturgy should not be performed for them. Allow only farewells to the cemetery with the singing of “Holy God.” This resolution No. 1864 is still in effect today.

What should those who entered this church, which calls itself Russian, do? Repent and return: “Like a crane, like a swallow, I made sounds, I yearned like a dove; My eyes sadly looked to heaven: Lord! I feel cramped; save me. What will I say? He told me, He did. I will spend all the years of my life quietly, remembering the sorrow of my soul” (Is. 38: 14-15). This is not a rebellious state of mind, but a contrite one that can save a person.

P.S. By the determination of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church “On the defrocking of Archimandrites Valentin (Rusantsov), Adrian (Starina) and Hegumen Joasaph (Shibaev) who were banned from the priesthood” 1) Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov) was defrocked. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, mistaking Rusantsov for a “persecuted” one, accepted him into its fold, but soon understood his essence and admitted that “the consecration of Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov) as bishop in Suzdal was a mistake.”

At present, Rusantsov is not a metropolitan, bishop or archimandrite of one of the legally existing Orthodox Churches, and the so-called “Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church” created by him is not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church and is not in canonical communion with it.
Support and prayerful communication with the false metropolitan and his clergy (in the Orenburg region this is Hieromonk Vissarion (Varyukhin)) should not be carried out by Orthodox believers and can be a reason for excommunication for the laity and expulsion from the priesthood for the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church (11th canon of the Saints Apostle reads: “If anyone, belonging to the clergy, prays with someone who has been cast out from the clergy, let him also be cast out.”

With the publication of this article, we continue our presentation of the history of pseudo-church schismatic formations that arose in the Orthodox Church throughout the twentieth century. Among the numerous schismatic groups that came into existence in the 1990s, perhaps the most notorious was the so-called Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC).
A prerequisite for the emergence of the schismatic Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church can be considered the adoption on May 2/15, 1990 by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) of the so-called “Regulations on free parishes.” This Regulation was the official proclamation of a new foreign policy course of the Russian Church Abroad, aimed at establishing parallel church structures (dioceses, deaneries and parishes) within the USSR. The intensification of the ROCOR’s “return to the homeland” activities was largely due to the weakening of pressure on religious organizations in the already moribund Soviet state. The decision to create new church structures parallel to the canonical Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP) is explained, first of all, by a psychological factor. The sharp rejection of church policies carried out by the Moscow Patriarchate under the conditions of a totalitarian state, cultivated in the Russian Abroad for several decades, had its inertia at a much later time. In part, such sentiments have persisted to this day, as evidenced by the refusal of a certain part of the former clergy and laity of the Russian Church Abroad to recognize the legality of the Act on Canonical Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church MP and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, signed in May 2007.
In the spring of 1990, immediately after the publication of the Regulations, Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov), rector of the Tsar Constantine Cathedral in Suzdal, transferred to the jurisdiction of the ROCOR together with his parish. The motivating reason for his action was self-will, which led to a conflict with the ruling bishop, which at that time was the Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal (now Metropolitan of Orenburg and Buzuluk) Valentin (Mishchuk). The acceptance of Archimandrite Valentin into the jurisdiction of the Russian Church Abroad received a wide public response and served as an example for several dozen parish communities in various regions of the country (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Kaliningrad, Bryansk, Penza regions, Stavropol and Primorsky Territories, etc.). By the decision of the hierarchy of the Russian Church Abroad, the Russian Orthodox Free Church (ROC) was proclaimed on the basis of Russian parishes, and Archimandrite Valentin was appointed Exarch of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR in Russia.
In February 1991, the episcopal consecration of Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov) as Bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir took place. Also in 1991, the Suzdal diocese of the ROCOR was registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Free Church.
The consistent increase in the activity of the ROCOR in the process of expansion of the Russian Orthodox Free Church led to the fact that in 1992, with the aim of organizing the Synodal Metochion of the Russian Church Abroad in Moscow, Bishop of Cannes Barnabas (Prokofiev) was sent to Russia. However, the activities of Bishop Varnava turned out to be very scandalous, which is directly related to his active support of the pro-fascist National Patriotic Front “Memory”, his willingness to recognize the canonicity of the schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the desire to completely subordinate the Russian Orthodox Church to his own power. The above abuses, as well as ambitious claims to leadership, prompted Bishop Valentin (Rusantsov) to enter into open conflict with the head of the Synodal Compound. In response to sharp criticism, Bishop Varnava convinced the ROCOR Synod of Bishops to remove Bishop Valentin from the staff without the right to manage the diocese. The latter did not want to recognize the behind-the-scenes victory of Bishop Barnabas and at the Suzdal diocesan congress, held in 1993, announced his withdrawal from the jurisdictional subordination of the Russian Church Abroad while maintaining eucharistic communion with it. A new step towards distancing the Russian Orthodox Free Church from the ROCOR was the decision of the IV Congress of clergy and laity of the ROCA, held in March 1994, which proclaimed the formation of the Higher Provisional Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Free Church (VVTsU ROCA). The VVTsU was considered as a body of the highest church authority, an alternative to the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR. Archbishop of Tambov and Morshansk Lazar (Zhurbenko), who came from the environment of the Russian Catacomb Church, and in 1982 entered the jurisdiction of the ROCOR and was secretly ordained bishop by the Bishop of Cannes Barnabas (Prokofiev), who came to the USSR as a tourist, was elected Chairman of the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bishop Valentin (Rusantsov), elevated to the rank of archbishop, became the Deputy Chairman of the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church. Perhaps the most scandalous act of the VVTsU was the ordination of new bishops, which included Bishop of Odessa Agafangel (Pashkovsky), Bishop of Borisov Theodore (Gineevsky), vicar of the Suzdal diocese, and Bishop of Sukhumi Seraphim (Zinchenko), vicar of the Suzdal diocese. In response to these acts, the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR banned Archbishop Lazarus and Bishop Valentin from serving in the priesthood, and the consecrations of the new hierarchs were not recognized as valid. In the context of the developing conflict, the Synod of the Russian Church Abroad decided to ordain a new bishop to manage Russian parishes. The choice fell on Archimandrite Eutychius (Kurochkin), who was consecrated Bishop of Ishim and Siberia.
After the recall of Bishop Barnabas (Prokofiev) from Russia, which occurred at the end of 1994, there was a slight warming of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. At the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, held in December 1994 in the Lesna Monastery (France), an Act of Reconciliation was signed between the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR and the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the terms of the reconciliation, the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church was abolished, and many of the decisions it had previously made lost their force. In particular, Valentin (Rusantsov) lost the title of “archbishop” and was again called a bishop. With regard to the hierarchs who were arbitrarily ordained in the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church, a decision was made to recognize their episcopal dignity on the indispensable condition that they take the episcopal oath to the Synod of the Russian Church Abroad. A very important decision of the Lesna Cathedral was the reorganization of spiritual administration in Russia, on the territory of which the dioceses of Moscow, St. Petersburg and North Russian, Suzdal, Siberian, Odessa and South Russian, Black Sea and Kuban were established. For consistency in the management of the Russian dioceses, to replace the abolished All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Bishops' Council was created, in its activities completely subordinate to the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
Despite the apparent resolution of existing contradictions and the seemingly fait accompli in the system of administrative management of Russian parishes, already in January 1995 the Bishops' Conference was rocked by an unexpected scandal. This time, the cause of the unrest was the confrontation between Bishop Valentin (Rusantsov) of Suzdal and Bishop Evtihius (Kurochkin) of Ishim. The latter brought forward a number of accusations against the Suzdal bishop concerning his lifestyle and style of church governance. Moreover, Bishop Eutychios expressed his dissatisfaction in writing in a report addressed to the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov), accusing Archbishop Lazar, Bishop Valentin and the hierarchs ordained by them of lack of loyalty to the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. The result of the confrontation that arose within the Bishops' Conference was the ban on Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) and Bishop Valentin (Rusantsov) from serving in the priesthood. The spiritual leadership of the Russian flock of the Russian Church Abroad was entrusted to Bishop Eutykhios of Ishim. In addition, distrust was expressed towards the Russian hierarchs who were once ordained as part of the All-Russian Orthodox Church of the Russian Orthodox Church, as a result of which taking an oath to the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad was not enough to recognize their episcopal dignity. To certify the reliability of these hierarchs, they were asked to recognize the conviction of Archbishop Lazarus and Bishop Valentin as fair, and also to live in the United States for a certain probationary period under the control of the leadership of the ROCOR. Only Bishop Agafangel (Pashkovsky) agreed to fulfill the above conditions, who lived in the United States for nine months, after which he was confirmed in the rank of bishop and received the title “Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea.” However, despite this, Bishop Eutyches’ fears turned out to be by no means groundless. In May 2007, when the Act of Canonical Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church MP and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was signed, Bishop Agafangel (Pashkovsky) categorically refused to take part in the process of uniting the disparate parts of the Russian Orthodox Church and created his own Temporary Supreme Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (VVTsU ROCOR ), thereby continuing his schismatic and anti-church activities. Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) a short time later was also accepted into the jurisdiction of the ROCOR through repentance. However, already in 2001, he separated from the Russian Church Abroad and proclaimed a new schismatic jurisdiction called the “Russian True Orthodox Church.”
Reacting to the events taking place, Bishop Valentin (Rusantsov) of Suzdal attempted to convene the Russian Bishops' Conference, the purpose of which was to condemn the decisions of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. However, from among the Russian hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad, only Bishop of Borisov Theodore (Gineevsky) and Bishop of Sukhumi Seraphim (Zinchenko) supported him. By the decision of the Bishops' Conference, the work of the All-Russian Orthodox Church was resumed, which was soon renamed the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Free Church (ROC). The further evolution of Bishop Valentin's schismatic group took place in conditions of a complete severance of church ties with the Russian Church Abroad. Taking this into account, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, held in September 1996, decided to depose Bishop Valentin from the priesthood. A similar decision was made at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, which was held in February 1997 and deprived Valentin (Rusantsov) of all degrees of the priesthood. The position of the First Hierarch of the ROAC himself regarding the almost simultaneous conciliar decisions of both branches of the Russian Orthodox Church, expressed by him in an interview with the newspaper Svoboda Slova, seems very interesting: “Correspondent: Your Eminence, what is your attitude to the decision of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow held in February of this year Patriarchy about depriving you of your holy orders? Archbishop Valentin: I perceived this decision as made by the sectarians with whom I was once in communication.” Of course, comments on such an absurd statement would be unnecessary...
In 1998, the Russian Orthodox Free Church was registered with the new name Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC). This schismatic jurisdiction justifies the legitimacy of its existence by reference to the well-known Decree of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Tikhon (Belavin) No. 362 of November 7/20, 1920. According to this Decree, issued in the conditions of the still unfinished Civil War and unprecedented genocide in Russian history in relation to The Orthodox Church, if it is not possible for the ruling bishop to communicate with the bodies of the highest church authority, he can, together with the bishops of neighboring dioceses, organize the Temporary Higher Church Administration (VTSU). The same actions were assumed in the event of the complete liquidation of the highest church authorities. Given the absolute impossibility of contacting even the bishops of neighboring dioceses, the bishop could assume full ecclesiastical authority within the boundaries of his diocese. It is noteworthy that almost all the schisms that arose in the Russian Orthodox Church throughout the twentieth century invariably appealed to the Decree of St. Tikhon No. 362. In almost every case of the emergence of church division, the canonical dignity of the bodies of the highest ecclesiastical authority of the Russian Orthodox Church was called into question and On this basis, a new schismatic structure was proclaimed, the legitimacy of which supposedly has its basis in Decree No. 362. The complete absurdity of this kind of apology is self-evident. Saint Tikhon, in the above-mentioned Resolution, stipulates external circumstances that arose in a very specific historical situation, when the connection between the dioceses and the church center could have been severed by the front line or Bolshevik repressions against the clergy. Decree No. 362 absolutely does not stipulate (and this is completely impossible!) the permissibility of disgraced clergy and hierarchs who are under church repression to create certain communities independent of the church center. Saint Tikhon (Belavin) entered the history of the Russian Orthodox Church as a champion of church unity, and not as an apologist for schisms and divisions.
The need to form an independent pseudo-church structure, claiming legal succession from the pre-revolutionary Orthodox Russian Church, prompted the leadership of the ROAC to conduct a number of hierarchal consecrations. In 2001, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church decided to elevate Archbishop Valentin (Rusantsov) to the rank of metropolitan with the right to wear two panagias, which, according to schismatics, raised the status of the most schismatic organization to a metropolitan district. However, the wearer of the white hood not only did not increase the authority of the jurisdiction he created, but a year later attracted public attention to the ROAC with a huge scandal. In February 2002, a hearing began in the Suzdal City Court in the case of Metropolitan Valentin (Rusantsov), who was accused of crimes of a sexual nature involving minors. In particular, he was charged with Art. 132 part 2; Art. 133 and art. 151 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provided for liability for “violent acts of a sexual nature repeatedly committed against minors,” “compulsion to acts of a sexual nature,” and the involvement of “minors in the systematic consumption of alcoholic beverages.” It is very important to note that the investigation materials were formed not only through the testimony of the minors themselves, but also thanks to the information provided in abundance by the former secretary of the ROAC Synod, Archpriest Andrei Osetrov. The sensational nature of what happened was due not only to the fact that a clergyman with a very representative title was in the dock. The court hearing in the case of Metropolitan Valentin was given additional public resonance by the fact that the First Hierarch of the ROAC was a fairly prominent and influential figure in Suzdal, being an honorary citizen of the city and a deputy of the Suzdal Council of People's Deputies. The case of Valentin (Rusantsov) gained wide publicity largely due to the close attention of the press. Numerous newspaper publications and television reports on the TV Center and NTV channels reported shocking investigative journalism. For example, columnist for the newspaper “Top Secret” Larisa Kislinskaya, in her article “IN BED WITH THE METROPOLITAN,” made public numerous facts about the personal life of a man who calls himself the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church and Metropolitan of Suzdal. According to the journalist, Valentin (Rusantsov) practiced homosexual relationships throughout his life, regularly involving minors in them.

Metropolitan Valentin (Rusantsov) in concelebration with the hierarchs of the ROAC.

It was from among the persons once seduced by Valentin (Rusantsov) that the most influential group of clergymen and close to the head of the ROAC was formed, which includes Archbishop of Borisov and Otradnensky Theodore (Gineevsky), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk Irinarh (Nonchin), Archimandrite Evfimy (Karakozov) and some other persons. In addition, Larisa Kislinskaya describes many cases of seduction of teenagers by people in power in the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. As a result of a court hearing held in 2002, Metropolitan Valentin was sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment and, on the day of his sentencing, was granted an amnesty, as a result of which the suspended sentence was reduced to two years. Columnist for the Sovershenno Sekretno newspaper Larisa Kislinskaya claims that victims and witnesses were repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological pressure, prompting them to renounce their own testimony. It is very noteworthy that in March 2004, by decision of the Suzdal District Court, the 2002 court decision was annulled, and Metropolitan Valentin’s criminal record was cleared.
Currently, the ROAC has jurisdiction over about 100 parishes on the territory of the Russian Federation, some of which do not have state registration. In addition, there are parishes in Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, the USA, Switzerland, Israel, Argentina and Bulgaria.
The training of future ROAC clergy takes place at the Theological and Pastoral Courses, created in 2001 at the Suzdal Diocesan Administration.
The official organ of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church is the magazine “Suzdal Diocesan Gazette”.

As of 2008, the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church consisted of the following hierarchs:
1. Valentin (Rusantsov), Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church;
2. Theodore (Gineevsky), Archbishop of Borisov and Otradnensky;
3. Seraphim (Zinchenko), Archbishop of Sukhumi and Abkhazia;
4. Victor (Kontuzorov), Archbishop of Daugavpils and Latvia;
5. Anthony, Archbishop of Yaran and Vyatka;
6. Hilarion, Archbishop of Smelyansk;
7. Timofey (Sharov), Bishop of Orenburg and Kurgan;
8. Ambrose (Epifanov), Bishop of Khabarovsk;
9. Irinarch (Nonchin), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk;
10. Andrey (Maklakov), Bishop of Pavlovsk;
11. Jacob, Bishop of Sukhodolsky.

The First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, Metropolitan Valentin of Suzdal and Vladimir (in the world Anatoly Petrovich Rusantsov) was born in 1939. In his early youth he met the famous Kamchatka missionary, Metropolitan Nestor (Anisimov). He was tonsured a monk in 1958 at the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery. He was ordained as a hierodeacon and hieromonk in 1960. He graduated in absentia from the history department of the Dagestan University (1970), the Moscow Theological Seminary (1973) and the Moscow Theological Academy (1979). In 1973 he was sent to serve in Suzdal. In April 1990, he left the jurisdiction of the ROC MP and joined the ROCOR. On October 4, 1990, he was appointed Exarch of the ROCOR in the USSR. He was ordained Bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir on February 10, 1991. Due to a protracted conflict, in 1995 he finally severed relations with the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. In 1996 he was endowed with the title of archbishop, in 2001 with the title of metropolitan and First Hierarch of the ROAC. In 1996, he was deprived of his priesthood by the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, and in 1997, by the decision of the Council of Bishops of the ROC MP, he was excommunicated from the Church. In 2001, the Synod of the ROAC elevated him to the rank of metropolitan.

The head of the church is the Metropolitan.

Brief history of the church

The jurisdiction began in July 1993, when Archbishop Lazar (who cared for the former catacomb parishes) and Bishop Valentin (who cared for the parishes that joined from the Russian Orthodox Church and registered as the “Russian Orthodox Free Church”), who managed the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in the post-Soviet space, were removed from their departments . After their requests to reconsider the decision were not heard, in March 1994 the bishops switched to autonomous self-government and ordained three new hierarchs, and the Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church was created. Most of the catacombs from the “Victorian” branch became part of this jurisdiction. In the winter of 1994, a temporary reconciliation was reached with the ROCOR, and on February 24, 1995, the ROCOR Synod banned all 5 bishops from serving, which again provoked a schism among the post-Soviet parishes of the ROCOR. In June 1995, the Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church was restored, this time headed by Archbishop Valentin, whose diocese in Suzdal became the center of the new jurisdiction. In October 1998, the old name "Russian Orthodox Free Church" during registration (at the request of the authorities) was replaced by the "Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church" (ROAC). In 2001, a group led by Archpriest Andrei Osetrov broke away, who became one of the ideologists of the persecution of Metropolitan Valentin. In 2002, a trial took place over M. Valentin, accusing him of pedophilia (he was convicted, but the conviction was subsequently dropped), which was accompanied by active persecution in the media, but this did not affect the size of the church. In Suzdal alone, the ROAC had 19 churches, six more parishes operated in the Vladimir region, Suzdal is the spiritual center of the church.

The church includes a large number of former catacomb parishes (a significant number of them remained illegal), as well as some that transferred from the Russian Orthodox Church. The Sukhodolsk diocese unites believers in Belarus and Ukraine, 12 parishes are united into an autonomous church in Latvia, at the beginning of 2001 parishes appeared in the USA, and in 2003 one parish in Bulgaria (subsequently the number of Bulgarian parishes increases). In 2004, the American Bishop Gregory (Abu-Assal) did not comply with the Synod's demands to explain his behavior and communication with him was interrupted. Gregory created the ROAC in America. From 2005 to 2008, the formation of a new jurisdiction, the Bishops' Conference of the ROAC, formed around Father Gregory (Lurie), was delayed. In 2007, a wave of church persecution began. In 2007, a trial began, the purpose of which is to take away from the church the churches that were taken over by it in the early 90s. On February 5, 2009, the Arbitration Court of the Vladimir Region decided to confiscate 13 churches from the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. By October 2009, 14 churches had been confiscated from the church in Suzdal and its environs. In 2010, the courts took away six more churches located in the Vladimir region from the church, and in October 2010, three priests from the region transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. In January 2012, the first hierarch of the church, M. Valentin, died, and on May 31, 2012, the court decided to transfer the relics of St. Euthymius and Euphrosyne of Suzdal to the Federal Property Management Agency, and for failure to comply with the decision and refusal to transfer the relics (which is regarded as an administrative offense) against M. Theodore criminal prosecution, fines are issued to the church. On January 24, 2013, the Federal Arbitration Court of the Volga-Vyatka District overturned previous decisions to confiscate the relics, leaving them in the possession of the church. However, on August 30, 2013, the bailiff service broke into the Iveron Synodal Church during a service and used force to try to seize the relics of the saints, Saints Euthymius and Euphrosyne.

On the territory of Russia there are 55 parishes and a number of catacomb communities, several parishes and communities in Ukraine and Belarus, a diocese in Latvia, five parishes in the USA (three of them English-speaking).

Supreme Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church, Head

Lazar (Zhurbenko) (March - winter 1994)
Valentin (Rusantsov) (June 1995 - 2001)

First Hierarch

Valentin (Rusantsov), metropolitan (2001 - January 16, 2012)
Theodore (Gineevsky), (Metropolitan since May 6, 2012), (January 23, 2012 -

Bishops:

Theodore (Gineevsky), Archbishop of Borisov and Saninsky (March 19, 1994 - January 23, 2012), Archbishop of Suzdal and Vladimir (January 23, 2012 -
Seraphim (Zinchenko), Archbishop of Sukhumi and Abkhazia (March 20, 1994 -
Victor (Kontuzorov), Archbishop of Daugavpils and Latvia (21 June 1995 -
Hilarion, Bishop of Sukhodolsky (1998-2001), bishop. Smelyansky (2001-
Timofey (Sharov), Bishop of Orenburg and Kurgan (November 24, 2000 -
Jacob (Antonidiadi), Bishop of Sukhodolsky (February 10, 2008 -)
Irinarch (Nonchin), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk (November 24, 2002 -
Andrey (Maklakov), Bishop of Pavlovsk, Vicar of Suzdal (governing parishes in the USA) (June 21, 2006 - July 18, 2013), Archbishop of Pavlovsk and Rockland (governing parishes in the diaspora) (July 18, 2013 -
Trofim (Tarasov), Bishop of Simbirsk, Vicar of Suzdal (February 6, 2011 -
Mark (Rassokha), Bishop of Arzamas, Vicar of Suzdal (February 8, 2011 - January 23, 2012), Bishop of Armavir and the North Caucasus (January 23, 2012 -

Bishops who previously belonged to the church:

Valentin (Rusantsov), Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir (March 1994 - January 16, 2012)
Anthony (Grabbe), Bishop at rest in the United States (August 28, 2001 - September 12, 2005) (deceased)
Geronty (Ryndenko), Bishop of Sukhodolsky (February 6, 2001 - February 1, 2008) (deceased)
Anthony (Aristov), Bishop of Yaran and Vyatka (May 24, 1999 - March 1, 2009) (deceased)
Alexander (Mironov), Bishop of Kazan and Mari (April 1995 - November 1997)
Arseny (Kiselev), Bishop of Tula and Bryansk (April 16, 1995 - summer 1996)
Gregory (Abu-Assal), Bishop of Denver and Colorado (December 2, 2001 - July 22, 2004) (until October 18, 2002 - metropolitan suffragan, from June 2004 archbishop)
Sevastian (Zhatkov), Bishop of Chelyabinsk (July 17, 2003 - February 17, 2007)
Ambrose (Epifanov), Bishop of Khabarovsk (November 26, 2000 - 2004)

and the Civil War in Russia, the united Greek-Russian Church was divided administratively - first by the front line, and then by the borders of the USSR - into two parts: the Church existing in the fatherland (later, as the persecution of Orthodoxy intensified, it went illegal and became the Catacomb ) and the Church Abroad (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - ROCOR). Separated forcibly by political circumstances, both parts of the Russian Church remained spiritually and mystically united: they commemorated the canonical church authority in the person of Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsky, and had communion in prayer and the sacraments. In addition, among the True Orthodox clergy and laity in Russia, the First Hierarchs of the ROCOR, Metropolitans Anthony, Anastasius and Philaret, enjoyed great authority. Having lost contact with their Bishops, the catacomb priests began to understand the First Hierarchs of the ROCOR at Divine Services, and if there was such an opportunity, they officially passed into its jurisdiction (for example, in 1975, a group of 12 catacomb priests who cared for several dozens of communities in Russia). The messages of the Councils of Bishops and the Synod of the ROCOR were distributed in the Catacomb Church, and the messages of the Bishops of the Catacomb Church, correspondence of hierarchs, etc. were published in the publications of the ROCOR.
..
By the end of the 20s, the Russian GPU managed to break away from the persecuted Catacomb Church the two largest church groups - the Renovationist and Sergianist groups, which compromised with the atheists and split with the Russian Church. These groups were recognized as a schism by both parts of the Russian Church (both the holy new martyrs and the foreign episcopate). In 1943, at the height of the war, Stalin, for political purposes, united the remnants of the Renovationist and Sergian schismatic groups into the new official church of the USSR, which was given the name “Russian Orthodox Church” (ROC). To manage this structure, a special Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was created, which included career NKVD officers. Formally, the ROC was headed by the head of the Sergian schism (whose name this schism bears) - Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who five days after his “historic meeting” with Stalin became “Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.” However, the Patriarch could only be elected by a Local Council with the participation of all bishops (up to 150 hierarchs in 1943 were still languishing in prisons, camps and exile), representatives of the clergy and laity.

An extremely small group of bishops and clergy who recognized Metropolitan Sergius were given some of the churches closed in the 1930s and were allowed to open religious educational institutions and publish a magazine “for official use.” This is how the modern Moscow Patriarchate was formed, which gradually grew and, with the help of the authorities, took the place of the historical Russian Church in the minds of the Russian people.

Meanwhile, the true Russian Church - the Catacomb Church - remained persecuted. Almost its entire episcopate was in prisons and camps, and a significant part of the clergy was also there, who did not want to enter the Moscow Patriarchate. Already in the 30s, due to the absence of central church authority (the canonical Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Peter, was shot in 1937, but 12 years earlier he was deprived of the opportunity to govern the Church), movements formed among the Catacomb Christians, usually called the name of their bishop-confessors, for example: “Josephites” - named after Metropolitan Joseph (Petrov) of Petrograd, “Buevites” - the children of Bishop Alexy (Bui), etc.
...
The ongoing persecution of the Catacomb Church in the USSR led to the fact that by the early 90s of the 20th century, the Russian Catacomb Church no longer had its own hierarchy. It is quite natural that the Catacomb Christians turned to the ROCOR, which still preserved the legitimate Russian hierarchy in the purity of faith. During the service, many catacomb clergy commemorated Metropolitan Philaret, and then Metropolitan Vitaly, the First Hierarchs of the ROCOR. The Josephite communities in St. Petersburg and the Northwestern Territory, as well as the “buevites” of the Voronezh region and the catacombs of the Moscow region were cared for by priest Mikhail Rozhdestvensky (+ 1988). Several priests, hieromonks and an archimandrite cared for the “Galynts” of the Vyatka region, Tatarstan, Mordovia and Chuvashia. The head of their branch, Archbishop Anthony (Galynsky-Mikhailovsky), died in Kyiv in 1976, leaving behind a small number of clergy and a large flock. The inept policy of the ROCOR in Russia led to the ordination in 1982 by foreign hierarchs of Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko), who was distrusted by the majority of the catacombs.

Only after the start of “perestroika” and after the fall of the Soviet regime, when the ROCOR began to open its legal parishes on Russian territory, was the trust of the catacombs in the Church Abroad restored. The first large parish to come under the jurisdiction of the ROCOR Synod and directly subordinate to Metropolitan Vitaly was the parish of the Tsar Constantine Church in Suzdal. Almost a year after his accession, on February 10, 1991, the rector of the parish, Archimandrite Valentin (Rusantsov), was ordained Bishop of Suzdal in Brussels. At this time, catacomb communities began to join the Russian Orthodox Free Church (ROC) (as the canonical structures of the ROCOR in Russia were called). At the same time, priests who have left the MP are accepted into their parishes through repentance. In Suzdal itself and the surrounding area, all the catacombs become, along with the flock of Bishop Valentin who left the MP, parishioners of the Tsar Constantine Cathedral and other churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. New communities and parishes are also being created. The distrust of the catacombs towards Archbishop Lazar, who looked after the “illegal” part of the Russian Orthodox Church, prompted them to turn to Bishop Valentin of Suzdal. As a rule, communities sent their trusted representatives to Suzdal in order to find out exactly what the Russian Orthodox Church, its hierarchy and clergy represented, and whether they really professed True Orthodoxy. Representatives of the “Buevsky” and “Josephite” communities of Voronezh and St. Petersburg come to Suzdal and join the Russian Orthodox Church. The current abbess of the Robe Monastery in Suzdal, schema-abbess Euphemia, came to Suzdal from the community of the Voronezh catacombs.

In 1992, a large number of catacomb communities of the “Galyns” of the Vyatka region joined the Russian Orthodox Church, and their priest, Archpriest Valentin (ordained in 1965 by Archbishop Anthony (Galynsky)) was tonsured a monk in 1997 and ordained in Suzdal as Bishop of Yaran. Catacomb nuns come to Suzdal from different places, for whom Bishop Valentin creates a monastery in honor of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (St. John was the spiritual father of St. Anthony (Galynsky) and maintained correspondence with him).

In 1991-93, catacomb workers from the Caucasus came to Suzdal. To care for the catacomb communities of the Caucasus and the South of Russia, the catacomb monk Seraphim, who labored for many years in the mountains of Abkhazia, was ordained Bishop of Sukhumi in 1994. The famous confessor (who spent 25 years in the camps) and organizer of catacomb parishes in Kuban and Ukraine, nun Seraphima (Sanina), comes to Suzdal and is appointed abbess of the Suzdal catacomb monastery in honor of St. John of Shanghai. Following her example, many catacomb communities in Ukraine and Belarus joined the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, in 1998, their Bishop was ordained for them - His Grace Hilarion Sukhodolsky.

Nuns, the spiritual children of the catacomb hieromonk Seraphim (Goloshchapov), move from the Kuban villages to Suzdal; one of them - Alexander's mother - is now abbess at the monastery of St. John of Shanghai.
...

However, the rapid growth of the ROCOR was hindered by the uncanonical and provocative actions of some ROCOR bishops, which ultimately led to the discrediting of the ROCOR itself in Russia and to a conflict between the Synod and the Russian bishops. The reason for such actions of some foreign hierarchs was their illusions regarding the “genuine spiritual revival” in a distant and little-known Russia, as well as a fundamentally incorrect and contrary to the confession of the Catacomb Church view of the MP as an Orthodox Church captivated by atheists, or<мать-церковь>.
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As a result, the contradictions between the leadership of the Synod of the ROCOR and the Russian bishops, who adhere to the true Orthodox, catacomb positions, grew. The bishops of the Catacomb Church, who were under the jurisdiction of the ROCOR, Archbishop Lazar and Bishop Valentin, were unlawfully dismissed from their sees in 1993. After all their requests for a fair trial and restoration of the trampled Sts. The Synod of the ROCOR left the canons inconclusive; they were forced to administratively separate from the ROCOR, forming, on the basis of the decree of St. Patriarch Tikhon and the bodies of the Supreme Church Administration under him for No. 362 of November 20, 1920, autonomous self-government in March 1994. They ordained three more bishops for the Russian Church: Theodore, Seraphim and Agafangel.

A year later, after unsuccessful attempts to find an acceptable way of self-government of Russian parishes, on February 11/24, 1995, the Synod of the ROCOR uncanonically banned five Bishops of the Russian Church from serving in the priesthood. This prohibition was also illegal because it was carried out without the ecclesiastical court required by the canons. Thus, the Synod of the ROCOR made an attempt to usurp power over the Catacomb Russian Church, power that belongs only to the All-Russian Local Council. As a result, a split occurred between the Synod of the ROCOR and the Russian Church. The unity of the Russian and foreign parts of the Russian Local Orthodox Church - from 1921 to 1990 spiritual, and from 1991 to 1994 also administrative - was dissolved due to the fault of the Foreign Synod, which set a course for rapprochement with the MP and saw an obstacle in the face of its own Russian parishes. The illegal actions of the ROCOR hierarchs in relation to the Church in Russia brought the Foreign Synod itself to the brink of a canonical schism. At the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR in 1994, the “new course” of the ROCOR was officially proclaimed, which, in particular, was expressed in the conciliar acceptance of the ecumenical teaching of the Greek Metropolitan Cyprian and in communication with the official Serbian Patriarchate - a member of the ecumenical World Council of Churches.

In 1995, Archbishop Lazar and Bishops Benjamin and Agafangel returned to the ROCOR, and only three bishops remained in the ROC, headed by Archbishop Valentin.
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Meanwhile, as a result of constant meetings between Archbishop Mark of Berlin (ROCOR) and the leadership of the MP (in particular, with the Patriarch himself), an agreement was reached between the MP and the Synod of the ROCOR to simultaneously remove the priesthood from Bishop Valentin, who was an obstacle to the reunification of the ROCOR with the MP. This was done by the ROCOR in September 1996, by the MP in February 1997. The Russian bishops recognized these actions as having no canonical significance, since they were directed against clergy who were not members of the clergy of the ROCOR, and the MP could not and cannot be recognized as Church. Bishop Gregory (Grabbe) back in 1994, in his report to Metropolitan Vitaly, called such “prohibitions” and “defrocking” “unprecedented lawlessness.”

In October 1998, the Russian Orthodox Church was re-registered under the name "Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church" (ROAC). Currently, the ROAC episcopate includes 12 bishops. The head of the Church was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan in March 2001." history of the ROAC

"The Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (abbreviated as ROAC; until 1998 - the Russian Orthodox Free Church) is a religious association officially registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in October 1998; it has no communication with the Moscow Patriarchate; it is also not recognized by any of the local Orthodox Churches. It considers itself as the legal heir of the historical Orthodox Russian Church and the Kyiv Metropolis within the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the Moscow Patriarchate it has the designation “Suzdal schism”.
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Bishop Valentin, gradually distancing himself from the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, on June 22, 1993, withdrew from subordination to the jurisdiction of the ROCOR, remaining with it “in prayerful unity and Eucharistic communion.” In March 1994, Valentin and Lazar (Zhurbenko), who had been caring illegally for members of the ROCOR in the USSR since 1982, switched to autonomous self-government and ordained three new bishops, creating the Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the winter of 1994, a temporary reconciliation was reached with the ROCOR, but on February 24, 1995, the ROCOR Synod banned all 5 bishops from serving and declared the Vladimir-Suzdal See widowed. At a meeting on March 14, 1995, the Temporary Supreme Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to recognize the determinations of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church as “contrary to the holy canons and not to recognize them as valid.”
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In June 1995, the Supreme Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church was restored. It was headed by Archbishop Valentin, whose diocese in Suzdal became the center of the new church. In October 1998, the old name “Russian Orthodox Free Church” was replaced by ROAC during registration. According to Mikhail Ardov, the word “autonomous” had to be added to the name (“the Ministry of Justice slapped this on us”) since the name “Russian Orthodox Church” was assigned to the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 2001, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church decided to elevate Archbishop Valentin (Rusantsov) to the rank of metropolitan with the right to wear two panagias.
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In 2001, a group led by Archpriest Andrei Osetrov broke away from the ROAC, who became one of the ideologists of the persecution of Metropolitan Valentin. In 2004, Bishop Gregory (Abu-Assal) disobeys the demands of the Synod and creates the ROAC in America. Thus, by the beginning of 2006, most of the parishes in foreign countries (USA, Bulgaria, England) were lost, and, in most cases, this was due to the incompetent personnel policy of the metropolitan.

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In May 2007, a new, alternative center was formed in Bezhetsk (Tver region) - the “Provisional Church Council” (VTsS ROAC) under Bishop Sevastian (Zhatkov) of Chelyabinsk, which coordinates the activities of a significant part of the parishes. The Synod of the ROAC did not recognize this body, and canonical punishments were applied to its members, including the anathematization of Sebastian.
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On November 5, 2008, a final split occurred in the ROAC, as a result of which Sebastian (Zhatkov) and Ambrosy (Epifanov) transformed the “Provisional Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church” into a new non-canonical religious organization, which received the name “Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church” and on the next day, hegumen Gregory (Lurie), banned by Valentin (Rusantsov), was ordained “Bishop of Petrograd and Gdov.” The latter was elected Chairman of the “Bishops' Conference of the ROAC.”
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On February 5, 2009, the Arbitration Court of the Vladimir Region, at the request of the Federal Property Management Agency, decided to confiscate 13 churches from the ROAC due to the lack of an agreement for their use.
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In October 2010, three of the 11 priests that the ROAC had in Suzdal and the region moved to the Moscow Patriarchate."