Russian True Orthodox Church
| Russian True Orthodox Church | |
| Acronym(s) | RTOC |
| Origin | Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Current primate | Archbishop Tikhon (Pasechnik) |
| Headquarters | Omsk, Omsk Oblast, Russia |
| Territory | Russia, Europe, Americas, Australia, Asia |
| Liturgical language(s) | Russian/local |
| Musical tradition | Russian/Byzantine |
| Bishops | 5 |
| Parishes | not available |
| Monasteries | not available |
| Official website | https://www.ripc.info/ |
The Russian True Orthodox Church (RTOC) is a True Orthodox Church based in Omsk, Russia. The RTOC has parishes in Russia, Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia. The origins of the RTOC lie in the priestly ministry of the catacomb cleric Lazar Zhurbenko. On the decision of the ROCOR synod, he was secretly ordained in 1981 as a bishop for the Catacomb Church. Currently, the president of the synod of bishops is Archbishop Tikhon of Omsk.
Contents
History of the RTOC
Archbishop Lazar Zhurbenko's ministry in the Catacomb Church
Fyodor Zhurbenko came into contact with the Catacomb Church in 1945, especially the "Tikhonites". They held a milder position on the Moscow Patriarchate than the "Josephites". That influenced him from then on. Around that time, he was tonsured as a monk with the name Feodosii. In 1950, he was arrested by the soviet authorities, tortured and sentenced to 10 years of prison camp.[1] He was released under amnesty in 1955.[2] An Athonite monk established a correspondence by letter with Archbishop Leontii of Chile of the ROCOR. Since Feodosii had doubts about the legitimacy of different Catacomb bishops, he among others was taken under the omophorion of Archbishop Leontii. On his recommendation, Feodosii was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood by Archbishop Benjamin Novitskii of Irkutsk in 1971. Archbishop Benjamin was part of the Moscow Patriarchate, but Archbishop Leontii viewed him as someone who resisted from within. Archbishop Benjamin also tonsured Feodosii as a monk with the name Lazar. Soon after that, the latter left the Moscow Patriarchate and returned to the catacomb communities in order to serve them. In 1977, the ROCOR Synod under Metropolitan Philaret received him officially and blessed his priestly ministry. To restore a canonical hierarchy, the synod in the early 1980s decided to consecrate Lazar as a bishop. Archpriest Vladimir Prokofiev worked in the French Embassy in Moscow. He was secretly consecrated to the bishopric as Varnava. On May 10,1982, he performed the episcopal consecration of Father Lazar in a private flat in Moscow.[3] In May 1990, Bishop Lazar travelled to New York, where the ROCOR Synod corrected his single-handed consecration.[4]
Formation of the Synod
In 2001, the ROCOR bishops forcibly retired Metropolitan Vitaly, the First Hierarch of the ROCOR. Then the ROCOR synod, presided over by the newly elected Metropolitan Laurus, officially decided to begin the process of unification with the Moscow Patriarchate.[5]
Archbishop Lazar, Archbishop of Odessa and Tambov and Benjamin, Bishop of the Black Sea and Kuban did not agree with the apostate decisions of the ROCOR synod. In order to canonically protect themselves and their flock, after discussing the situation at the Synod of the Bishops of Russia, with the blessing of Elder Metropolitan Vitaly, Archbishop Lazar and Bishop Benjamin in August 2002 ordained for the needs of the Russian Church Hieromonk Dionisy as Bishop of Borovichi, Hieromonk Jeriney as Bishop of Burnin, Hieromonk Germogen as Bishop of Zhlobnisky, and Hieromonk Tikhon as Bishop of Shadrinsk.
On June 22/July 5, 2003, in fulfillment of the decisions of the Second All-Russian Conference of Bishops, Clergy and laity, in accordance with the Ukas 362 of St. Patriarch Tikhon, and with the blessing of Metropolitan Vitaly, the canonical governing body of the RTOC parishes was transformed into the Synod of Bishops of the Russian True Orthodox Church. The senior Russian bishop, Archbishop Lazar of Odessa and Tambov, was elected president of the Synod of Bishops of the RTOC.
After the death of Archbishop Lazar in 2005, at an extraordinary meeting of the RTOC Synod, His Eminence Tikhon, Bishop of Omsk and Siberia, was elected First Hierarch and elevated to the rank of Archbishop.
Current hierarchs
Archbishops
- Tikhon of Omsk and Siberia, Chairman of the Synod of Bishops
- Benjamin of the Black Sea and Kuban, Deputy Chairman of the Synod of Bishops
Bishops
- Savvati of Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi
- Germogen of Gomel and Bryansk
- Philaretos of Pallini and Western Europe
Secretary of the Synod
- Protopresbyter Victor Melehov
External Links
References
- ↑ Out From the Catacombs - Interview with Bishop Lazarus https://roca.org/oa/volume-x/issue-100/out-from-the-catacombs/
- ↑ Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia https://www.pravenc.ru/text/2462535.html
- ↑ Clandestine Connections between the ROCOR and Catacomb Communities in the USSR from the 1960s to the 1980s https://www.rocorstudies.org/2022/02/02/9405/
- ↑ Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia https://www.pravenc.ru/text/2462535.html
- ↑ Synod of Bishops of the Russian True Orthodox Church https://www.ripc.info/synod/
