Canonical History and Ecclesiastical Succession of ROCOR and RTOC

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Canonical History and Ecclesiastical Succession of ROCOR and RTOC

I. Introduction The 20th century saw a great fracture in Russian Orthodoxy due to the violent upheavals of the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of the Soviet regime. The faithful Orthodox bishops and clergy who refused collaboration with the atheist state either fled abroad or went underground. From this spiritual resistance were born two key ecclesiastical bodies: the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) och den Russian True Orthodox Church (RTOC), each striving to preserve the Orthodox faith in purity and apostolic succession.

II. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR)

ROCOR was founded by hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church who escaped Bolshevik Russia and rejected any compromise with the Soviet authorities. Established in 1920, ROCOR maintained canonical ties with the pre-revolutionary Russian Church and held its first council in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia.

Key Primates and Jurisdictions:

First Hierarch Tenure Jurisdiction/Notes
Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) 1920–1936 Founder; led Synod in exile from Serbia
Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky) 1936–1964 Oversaw ROCOR through WWII and Cold War; moved Synod to NY
Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) 1964–1985 Strongly anti-ecumenist; emphasized purity of doctrine
Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) 1986–2001 Opposed union with Moscow; traditionalist leader
Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla) 2001–2008 Led reconciliation with the Moscow Patriarchate
Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) 2008–2022 Oversaw continued traditional practice post-reunion
Metropolitan Nicholas (Olhovsky) 2022–Present Current First Hierarch; continues ROCOR global ministry

ROCOR Global Dioceses:

  • Eastern American Diocese
  • Western American Diocese
  • Canadian Diocese
  • Australian & New Zealand Diocese
  • German Diocese
  • Great Britain and Western Europe

III. The Russian True Orthodox Church (RTOC)

RTOC is a successor to the Catacomb Church which rejected Metropolitan Sergius’s 1927 declaration of loyalty to the Soviet regime. RTOC holds that true apostolic succession was preserved by bishops who went underground, many of whom were later killed or exiled.

Founding and Hierarchs:

  • Formally organized in 2002 by Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) och Bishop Benjamin (Rusalenko)
  • Consecrated bishops include clergy of Catacomb origin with ties to Andrewite and Josephite traditions
  • Ärkebiskop Tikhon (Pasechnik) became Primate in 2005 and leads the Synod today

Key Dioceses and Bishops:

  • Omsk-Siberian Diocese – Archbishop Tikhon
  • Black Sea-Kuban Diocese – Archbishop Benjamin
  • Gomel-Bryansk Diocese – Bishop Germogen
  • Pallini and West Europe – Bishop Philaret

RTOC does not recognize the canonical authority of the Moscow Patriarchate and views the 1943 re-establishment of the patriarchate by Stalin as invalid.

IV. Tables of Succession

A. ROCOR Succession Table

Period Notable Figures / Successors Communion / Note
1920s Met. Anthony (Khrapovitsky), Abp. Anastasy Canonical Russian bishops in exile
1930s–1960s Met. Anastasy, Abp. Vitaly Maximenko, Bp. Seraphim Ivanov Preservation of pre-revolutionary traditions
1964–1985 Met. Philaret, Abp. Averky, Bp. Nektary Heightened defense against modernism
1986–2001 Met. Vitaly Rejection of Moscow compromise
2001–2008 Met. Laurus Reunion with MP; controversial in traditional circles
2008–Present Met. Hilarion, Met. Nicholas Post-reunion preservation of ROCOR identity

B. RTOC Succession Table

Period Notable Figures / Successors Communion / Note
1589–1897 Moscow Patriarchate and Kazan Hierarchs: from Patriarch Job through Filaret, Innocent, Leontii Lebedinsky, Dimitri I & II Line of canonical succession leading to ROCOR and Catacomb roots
1897 Leontii Lebedinsky and Abp. Dimitri Sambikin consecrate Antonii (Khrapovitsky) Antonii later leads ROCOR
1905 Antonii consecrates Abp. Dimitri II (Sambikin) Successor in Kazan
1907 Abp. Dimitri II consecrates St. Andrew (Ufa) Third vicar of Kazan; key Catacomb figure
1923 St. Andrew & Nicolas Ipatoff consecrate Abbakum (Borovkoff) Continued Ufa Catacomb line
1928 St. Andrew & Job (Grechisvkin) consecrate Amphilochius (Shibanov) Bishop of Tyumen, later in Chita
2002–2005 Abp. Lazar, Bp. Benjamin Reconstitution of RTOC Synod from Catacomb lines
2005–Present Abp. Tikhon, Abp. Benjamin, Bp. Germogen Modern RTOC Synod; claims Catacomb succession

V. Conclusion Both ROCOR and RTOC stand as heirs to the suffering and faithfulness of the Orthodox Church under Soviet persecution. While their trajectories have diverged—ROCOR now in communion with Moscow, and RTOC standing apart—each maintains a portion of the historic Orthodox witness. RTOC, especially, continues the spiritual resistance of the Catacomb Church, and ROCOR preserves an institutional memory of the Church in exile. Both lines are critical to understanding the complexity of modern Orthodoxy in the post-Soviet world.

Further Reading:

The Orthodox Church of Gothia: Canonical Continuity in Crimea under the Catacomb and RTOC Tradition