The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the
Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Currently, the position of
First-Hierarch of the ROCOR is occupied by
Metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
Nicholas (Olhovsky)
Metropolitan Nicholas (born Nikolay Alexandrovich Olhovsky, russian: Николай Александрович Ольховский; 17 December 1974) is the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and Metropolitan of Eas ...
.
The ROCOR was established in the early 1920s as a ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' independent