Russian Orthodoxy

Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most Churches of the Russian Orthodox tradition are part of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Origin

Historically, the term "Greek Orthodox" has been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox churches, since the term "Greek" can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire. However, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, as a center of power, will gradually lose a significant part of its authority in the eyes of Orthodox believers after the union with Rome in 1439. In December 1448, the Russian Orthodox Church ''de facto'' declared its autocephaly by instaling Jonas, a Russian bishop, as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia (with permanent residence in Moscow) without the approval of Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople to replace the pro-union Isidore of Kiev. After the fall of Constantinople and the end of the Orthodox-Catholic union, internal problems regarding the status of the Russian Church will result in a division between greek and russian believers within Eastern Orthodoxy. Having lost its Christian ''basileus'' after the Turkish conquest, the Moscow rulers soon began to consider themselves real ''Tsars'' (this title was already used by Ivan III), and therefore, according to them, the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church should be located in Moscow, and thus the bishop of Moscow should become the head of Orthodoxy. With some Eastern Orthodox believers calling Moscow the "Third Rome", or the "New Rome", the Russian Church gained influence in the orthodox world outside the Ottoman Empire. After this event, a series of doctrinal and liturgical differences would emerge in the Slavic Orthodox world, being cut off from its Greek counterpart. In spite of the end of the schism in 1560, by the mid 17th century the religious practices of the Russian Orthodox Church were distinct from those of the Greek Orthodox Church. Eventually, Patriarch Nikon of Moscow would reform the church and bring most of its practices back into accommodation with the contemporary forms of Greek Orthodox worship. This change, however, was rejected by a large group of traditionalists, who would come to be known as Old Ritualists.

Church bodies

Part of the Eastern Orthodox Communion

* Autocephalous churches:
** Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church
** Orthodox Church in America (except Romanian, Bulgarian and Albanian ethnical dioceses)
** Orthodox Church of Ukraine (autocephaly not recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church)
** Polish Orthodox Church
** Russian Orthodox Church
*** Churches belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church:
**** Autonomous Churches (recognized):
***** Belarusian Orthodox Church
***** Latvian Orthodox Church
***** Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
**** Autonomous Churches (semi-recognized):
***** Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate
***** Moldovan Orthodox Church
***** Orthodox Church of China
***** Orthodox Church of Japan
**** Exarchates:
***** Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe
***** Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe
***** Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia
***** Russian Orthodox Church in Finland
***** Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Parishes in the USA
* Churches under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (itself not part of Russian Orthodoxy):
** Autonomous Churches (recognized):
*** Orthodox Church of Finland
** Autonomous Churches (semi-recognized):
*** Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church
** Exarchates:
*** American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
*** Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
*** Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
* Churches with undefined status:
** Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Outside the Eastern Orthodox Communion

* Non-canonical church bodies, schism from the Russian Orthodox Church and its autonomous churches:
** American Orthodox Catholic Church (defunct)
** Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
** Old Believers
*** Bezpopovtsy
**** Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church
*** Popovtsy
**** Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy
***** Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church
***** Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church
**** Russian Old-Orthodox Church
**** Edinoverie
** Russian True Orthodox Church
** Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
** Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

See also

* Eastern Orthodoxy
* Greek Orthodoxy
* History of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Literature

* Русское православие: вехи истории / Науч. ред. А. И. Клибанов. — М.: Политиздат, 1989. — 719 с. — 200 000 экз. — .
* Гордиенко Н. С
Содержание и объём понятия «русское православие»
// Вестник Ленинградского государственного университета им. А. С. Пушкина. — 2009. — № 2. — С. 166—175.
* Лексин В. Н
Русское православие сегодня
// Контуры глобальных трансформаций: политика, экономика, право. — 2018. — № 4. — doi:10.23932/2542-0240-2018-11-4-65-82.

References

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Russian Orthodoxy