The 1943 meeting of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held on September 8, 1943, was the first sobor of the Russian Orthodox Church since the 1917–18 Local Council. The assembly was held in Moscow in the in Khamovniki District of the city, that just had been returned to the Moscow Patriarchate by the Soviet Government. The assembly unanimously elected Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergius to be the

Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (russian: Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, translit=Patriarkh Moskovskij i vseja Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the Metropolitan ...

. The assembly also excommunicated everyone who collaborated with the Axis powers, and reestablished the

Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church ( rus, Священный синод Русской православной церкви, Svyashchennyy sinod Russkoy pravoslavnoy tserkvi) serves by Church statute as the supreme administrative go ...

Participants

The assembly was attended by 19 bishops: all the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church who at that time held their positions on the territories not occupied by Nazi troops, except Bishop Photius (Topiro) of

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

and Krasnodar, whose reasons of absence are unknown, and Archbishop Barlaam (Pikalov) of Sverdlovsk, assigned to his office from the

Komi ASSR The Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Коми Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; kv, Коми Автономнӧй Сӧветскӧй Социалистическӧй ...

field-crop-walkers one day before the opening of the Council. Besides the bishops Archpriest Nikolai Kolchitsky, rector of the Yelokhovo Cathedral in Moscow also participated in the assembly. He became a Synod member as the head on the Property Management Directorate of the Moscow Patriarchate. #

Sergius (Stragorodsky) Patriarch Sergius (russian: Патриарх Сергий; born Ivan Nikolayevich Stragorodsky, Иван Николаевич Страгородский; – May 15, 1944) was the 12th Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus', from September 8, 194 ...

, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, locum tenens of the patriarchal throne #

Alexius (Simansky) Patriarch Alexy I (Alexius I, russian: Патриарх Алексий I, secular name Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky, russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Сима́нский; – 17 April 1970) was the 13th Patriarch of Moscow ...

, Metropolitan of Leningrad # Nicholas (Yarushevich), Metropolitan of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and Galich #

Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) Luke of Simferopol (Luke, russian: Архиепи́скоп Лука́, born Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky, russian: Валенти́н Фе́ликсович Во́йно-Ясене́цкий; April 27 or May 9, 1877 in Kerch – June 11, ...

, Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk #

John (Bratolyubov) John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, Archbishop of Sarapul # Andrew (Komarov), Archbishop of Kazan # Alexis (Palitsyn), Archbishop of Kuybyshev # Stephen (Protsenko), Archbishop of Ufa # Sergius (Grishin), Archbishop of Gorky and Arzamas # John (Sokolov), Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov # Aleksius (Sergeyev), Archbishop of Ryazan # Basil (Ratmirov), Archbishop of Smolensk and Kalinin # Bartholomew (Gorodtsov), Archbishop of

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

and Barnaul # Gregory (Chukov), Archbishop of

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

and

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

# Alexander (Tolstopyatov), Bishop of Molotov # Pitirim (Sviridov), Bishop of

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

# Benjamin (Tikhonitsky), Bishop of Kirov # Demetrius (Gradusov), Bishop of Ulyanovsk # Eleutherius (Vorontsov), Bishop of Rostov

References

{{reflist Russian Orthodox Church in Russia History of the Russian Orthodox Church 20th-century Eastern Orthodoxy 1943 in Christianity 1943 in the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Eastern Orthodoxy in the Soviet Union

Participants

See also

References