One of the largest schisms in the history of Christianity is forcing all local Orthodox churches to decide which side they are on.

Minsk church process

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on the evening of October 15, at a meeting in Minsk, decided to sever relations with Constantinople. After a seven-hour meeting behind closed doors, further Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople was declared impossible. The verdict was announced to journalists not by Patriarch Kirill, but by the head of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.

The meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held for the first time in the Belarusian capital.

According to him, the decision to completely break communication was made against the backdrop of the desire of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian church.

The Synod in Constantinople lifted the anathema from the heads of two non-canonical churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Also, the Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to terminate the decree of 1686, which gave the Moscow Patriarchate the right to appoint the Metropolitan of Kyiv.

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church called these decisions of Constantinople uncanonical and criminal. “The Patriarchate of Constantinople announced its intention to grant autocephaly to part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and not to that which was once in the possession of Constantinople,” Metropolitan Hilarion explained the decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. - That Kiev Metropolis, which in 1686 became part of the Moscow Patriarchate, did not coincide territorially with the current Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It was much smaller; it did not include territories such as Donbass, southern Ukraine, Odessa and many other regions. That is, cancel the act of 1686 and present the matter as if for 300 s extra years the entire territory of Ukraine was part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople - completely contradicts the historical truth.”

Statements by the heads and hierarchs of the eleven canonical local churches

Statements by the heads and hierarchs of eleven canonical local churches (there are 15 in total) in support of the Russian Church on the issue of autocephaly of Ukrainian schismatics. The statements are absolutely transparent and clearly interpretable:

1. Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem:

“The unity of the Church of Christ is the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are called to protect and preserve it. Destroying this unity is a serious crime.”

“We most categorically condemn actions directed against parishes of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It is not for nothing that the Holy Fathers of the Church remind us that the destruction of the unity of the Church is a mortal sin.”

2.Archbishop of Sebaste (Jerusalem Patriarchate) Theodosius:

“The Orthodox churches of the world, including Jerusalem, recognize as canonical only the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine, led by Metropolitan Onuphry; he is a member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. We support all efforts to end the schism in the Ukrainian church. The Orthodox Church is a place of love, peace and unity, not schism and hatred.”

“The schism in Ukraine is a great misfortune, I hope that the Patriarch of Constantinople, together with the heads of other Orthodox Churches, will coordinate efforts with the Russian Church in order to stop this unhealthy, unacceptable and unjustified situation.”

3.Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II:

“Let's pray to the Lord, who does everything for our good, who will guide us on the path to resolving these problems. If the schismatic Denisenko wants to return to the fold of the Church, he must return to where he left. The Lord is merciful to all who have repented, the Church forgives and accepts all those who repent into its maternal embrace.”

4.Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X:

“The Antioch Patriarchate stands together with the Russian Church and speaks out against the church schism in Ukraine.”

5.Georgian Patriarch Elijah:

“His Holiness Patriarch Kirill disagrees with the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding Ukraine, since he supports only the legitimate church led by Metropolitan Onuphry.”

6. Serbian Patriarch Irinej,

Regarding the Ukrainian issue, he characterizes: “a very dangerous and even catastrophic situation, probably fatal for the unity of Orthodoxy,” “the act of honoring and restoring schismatics to the rank of bishops, especially arch-schismatics, such as the “Kiev Patriarch” Filaret Denisenko. Bringing them to liturgical service and communion without repentance and return to the bosom of the Russian Church, which they renounced. And all this without Moscow’s consent and coordination with them.”

7.Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church:

“Those gathered here express full solidarity and compassionate brotherly love with their sister-martyr the Ukrainian Church, which is being subjected to the most severe persecution by the Kyiv regime.”

8. Holy Synod of the Polish Orthodox Church:

“We, as the Polish Orthodox Church, express a clear position, namely, that the church life of the canonical church must be based on the dogmas and holy canons of Orthodoxy. Violation of these principles leads to chaos in church life.”

“In Ukraine there are certain groups of schismatics who must first repent and return to the fold of the Canonical Church. Only after this will it be possible to discuss autocephaly.”

“We cannot be guided by political conjuncture in matters of dogma and canons.”

9. Metropolitan of the Czech and Slovak lands Rostislav:

“The schism provoked by human selfishness can only be healed by repentance and return to the bosom of the Church. The new autocephaly must be the result of a general consensus.”

10. Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte:

"I have always had very a good relationship with Metropolitan Onuphry. We know that he loves the people of Ukraine and humbly works for the benefit of the people and all Orthodox Christians. We pray that the Lord will grant him strength and health in order to endure all the trials that the Lord sent him and which he overcomes with dignity.”

The Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church, Bishop Gerasim of Melnitsky emphasized that the Bulgarian Church is well aware of the problems of the Ukrainian situation and its complexity, but it is necessary to strictly observe the church canons, which the Orthodox Church has adhered to for centuries.

11. Metropolitan of Lovech, Gabriel (Bulgarian Church):

“There is no Divine Grace in schism. And without God's Grace there is no Church. People must return to the canonical church, where there is grace and salvation. Schism is a destructive and malignant phenomenon.”

12. Metropolitan George of Kitros, Catherine and Ptalamon, Greek Church:

“The Greek Orthodox Church, like all other churches in the world, recognizes only the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the head of which is Metropolitan Onuphry.”

13. Metropolitan of Limassol, Athanasius, Church of Cyprus:

“First of all, the issue of granting autocephaly should be decided by the Patriarch of Moscow, under whose jurisdiction the UOC is located, then by the canonical Ukrainian Church, and then by all Orthodox churches, with the guidance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. But the first word belongs to the Mother of the Ukrainian Church, which is the Moscow Patriarchate. The Russian Church has the first word in this process.”

“What does the ecumenical patriarchate have to do with the Filaret schism? How to overcome it? We want our brothers, now schismatics, to return to the church under the leadership of Metropolitan Onuphry. This is the only canonical church in Ukraine, united with the Moscow Patriarchate and with all Orthodox churches. We pray for this."

14. Statement of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in support of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine:

“With this statement we express our full support for Metropolitan Onuphry, together with all his archpastors, clergy, monasticism, all the believers of the one Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and we bow with love to their confessional struggle. No obstacles to church life should be caused by secular authorities. Real attempts to influence the Church from the outside testify to deeply non-church motives and goals of those who are trying to implement them.”

We receive open and comprehensive support from the majority of canonical Orthodox Churches.

Of those who abstained, and these are the American, Romanian and Albanian churches, no one spoke in favor of the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The CP has completely played too far and in the event of a real split, it will remain alone along with its neo-papist ambitions.

In accordance with the current Charter on the governance of the Russian Orthodox Church, the highest bodies of church power and administration are the Local Council, the Council of Bishops and the Priest. Synod headed by the Patriarch. The chairman of all collegial bodies of the highest church authority is the Patriarch.

Currently, the Russian Orthodox Church has 132 dioceses. The number of bishops today is 175, of which 132 are diocesan, 32 are vicar, 11 are retired.

There are 688 monasteries, including: in Russia - 207 men's and 226 women's monasteries; in Ukraine - 85 men's and 80 women's; in other CIS countries - 35 men's and 50 women's; V foreign countries- 2 male and 3 female.

There are 25 stauropegial monasteries under the Patriarchal authority.

Total parishes - 26,600, of which in Russia - 12,665.

The educational system of the Russian Orthodox Church currently includes 5 Theological Academies, 2 Orthodox universities, 1 Theological Institute, 34 theological seminaries, 36 theological schools. There are regency and icon painting schools at several academies and seminaries.

The Russian Orthodox Church arose simultaneously with the Enlightenment Ancient Rus' the light of Orthodoxy in the middle of the two thousand year history of Christianity and the presence of the Universal Church of Christ in the world. It arose as a new branch of a mighty tree, inseparable from the trunk and preserving its properties, arose as a metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Every Orthodox Christian is involved in the historically distant but spiritually close ancient Church of the first apostles. In the grace-filled succession from them, the closest disciples of Christ, in the preservation of the undistorted teaching of Christ is the guarantee of both the spiritual and historical vitality of Orthodoxy. The doctrine, basic canonical and liturgical traditions are the same for all Local Orthodox Churches, but each Church has its own unique path and its own unique experience, important not only for it, but for the entire Ecumenical Orthodoxy.

By the time the Russian Church appeared, high examples of asceticism had already appeared Christian life and martyr's testimonies of faith. On Ecumenical Councils In the uncompromising struggle against heresies, the tenets of Christian doctrine were already formulated. Church law acquired its canonical structure, the main body of liturgical tradition was formed, and unsurpassed examples of church art were created. The Church gave all this to the Slavs, along with the greatest treasure - writing. These gifts of the ancient Orthodox Church and Byzantium, the great Greek culture, became a decisive factor in the spiritual and organizational formation of the Russian Church, so that Rus' at the time of the Mongol-Tatar invasion was enlightened by the light of Orthodoxy, had Orthodox sovereigns, a developed system of church government, churches and monasteries, church literature (both translated and original in almost all genres), art, their national saints. We must also remember that the Russian Church was born shortly before the tragic division of the Christian world, before the apostasy of the Western Church. This still not overcome deviation from Orthodoxy of a huge part of the Christian world has left its mark on the history of the Russian Church and Russian church identity.

It is customary for historians to divide the past into stages and periods, noting the uniqueness of each of them. It is no less important to trace the unity of the historical and spiritual existence of the Russian Church over the course of a millennium, the uninterrupted line of historical development. The life of the Russian Church was determined primarily by the acts of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Olga, the works of the founders of Russian monasticism, the Venerable Anthony and Theodosius, the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples, the wise, and sometimes heroic, service of the high priests of the Russian Church, the exploits of the holy noble princes, the deep instructions of Russian doctrinal writings. On the other hand, it became extremely important to learn the lessons of the ill-fated Ferrara-Florentine Union Council of 1438–1439, to realize the impossibility of sacrificing dogmatic truths for the sake of even the best political prospects, and to strengthen the faith in the final triumph of truth, strengthened by the feat of St. Mark of Ephesus. Here is the beginning of the movement of the Russian Church towards autocephaly, its path to complete independence, the milestones of which were the installation of St. Metropolitan Jonah by the Council of Russian bishops in 1448 and the establishment of the Patriarchate in Rus' in 1589.

With the beginning of centuries-old Turkish rule in the Orthodox countries of Eastern Europe and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Church and the Russian state became the stronghold of Orthodoxy in the world. The preservation and defense of Orthodoxy was perceived by both the Church and the state as a common goal that determined the unity of aspirations. In the church consciousness next to Venerable Sergius Radonezh and Saint Alexy of Moscow rises the image of the holy noble Prince Demetrius Donskoy, the great deeds of Kozma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky are inextricably linked with the feat of Saint Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The middle of the 17th century was darkened by many troubles for the Russian Church, the consequences of which were felt centuries later: the conflict between Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the schism of the Russian Church and the emergence of the Old Believers. Today we clearly recognize the schism as a spiritual, historical and life tragedy.

Coming with the beginning XVIII century long synodal period life of the Church When it lost its Patriarchal leadership, it was a time of incessant attempts to transform the highest church administration into part of the state apparatus and subordinate church life to bureaucratic demands. But this same period became the era of the greatest spiritual achievements, the time of the heyday of eldership and the strengthening of monastic feats (thanks to St. Paisius Velichkovsky, Seraphim of Sarov, the Optina elders), the creation of high examples of Russian patristic literature (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Ignatius Brianchaninov, Theophan the Recluse, etc.) , a time of achievements in theological thought and major works in almost all spheres of church science, a time of success of Orthodox missionaries both in Russia and abroad, a time of revival of true pastoral service by St. John of Kronstadt and many other shepherds.

It was this positive experience, reinforced by the canonical acts of the Council of 1917–1918 - the restoration of the Patriarchate, the work on church dispensation - that prepared the Russian Church for decades of cruel persecution that lasted almost the entire 20th century. The redemptive feat of hundreds of thousands of martyrs testified before the Lord and the world about the true faith and life of the Russian Orthodox Church. Long years of persecution, repression, legal, moral and property arbitrariness against the Church, of course, caused enormous damage to it. Not everyone was able to resist this, as it seemed to many, almost hopeless battle with the system of state atheism, and in this struggle many members of the Church made mistakes and suffered defeats. But “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7), and the Church will not be destroyed as long as faith lives in the hearts of people.

In the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', confidence in the future revival of Orthodoxy in Russia, which only thousands kept in their hearts, took possession of millions. A process has begun that is commonly called the “spiritual revival of Russia” and which has posed new tasks and new problems. It was with the Church that society began to pin hopes for a return to trampled traditional values, for the restoration and preservation of true morality and culture. Number of parishioners Orthodox churches constantly growing, everything more people recognize themselves as members of the Orthodox Church. A significant part of this multimillion-dollar flock is in dire need of spiritual enlightenment, which is why the catechesis of those who, having restored after one or several generations a spiritual connection with their Orthodox ancestors, returned to the bosom of the Mother Church, is so important today. There is an unprecedented increase in the number of newly opened and restored churches and monastic monasteries, dozens of new dioceses have been formed and restored, and this despite the extremely difficult financial situation flock. Church and public organizations are multiplying, uniting people to work together in the field of Orthodox missionary work, enlightenment, education, and social and charitable service.

Decades of undivided dominance of the atheistic worldview in the system public education, the massive offensive of neo- and pseudo-religious cults, including openly Satanic ones, frequent cases of Catholic and Protestant proselytism require enormous efforts from the Church, from its shepherds and flock. The special task of the Church today is the salvation of human souls in conditions of falling living standards and impoverishment of a significant part of the population, when the replacement of genuine culture with surrogates of mass pseudoculture, unleashed propaganda of violence, debauchery and hedonism, widespread drug addiction and alcoholism lead to spiritual, moral, intellectual and even physical degradation of the people. The decline in living standards has led to an increase in the number of abortions, a decline in the population, and the appearance of street children. Caring for the future of our people - children - is one of the main directions of the social service of the Church.

The revival of church culture and science, the unification of secular and church scientific forces has become one of the signs of our time. Artificial barriers between faith and knowledge, erected by anti-religious thinking, are crumbling. This is facilitated by the strengthening of the system of spiritual education and the active participation of secular science in generally significant church educational and research projects. The life of society is diverse, so more and more it needs beneficial influence spiritual beginning, in collaboration with the Church, which throughout national history preserved and brought to the flock the highest spiritual and moral values.

At the Local Council of 1988, Orthodox devotees from different eras were canonized as saints of the Russian Orthodox Church: the period of formation of the Moscow state - the blessed Grand Duke Moscow Demetrius Donskoy and Rev. Andrei Rublev, icon painter; the heyday of the Muscovite kingdom - St. Maxim the Greek and St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'; synodal period - Rev. Paisius Velichkovsky, Nyametsky, blessed Xenia of Petersburg, Fool for Christ's sake, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea, Reverend Ambrose(Grenkov) Optina, Saint Theophan (Govorov), recluse Vyshensky. The past decade has become a time of comprehension of the tragic and heroic fate of our Church in the 20th century; the most visible result of such comprehension is the canonization - church-wide and local - of a host of new martyrs of the Russian Church, who accepted suffering and death for the faith of Christ. Many of them have already been canonized. In the anniversary year 2000, at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, the new martyrs of Russia were canonized: hierarchs and clergy, monastics and laity, who testified with their life and death fidelity to Christ and atoned before the Lord for the sin of apostasy, which took possession of millions of Christians in the post-revolutionary years, for the Lord through the prayers of the righteous and confessors and “for their sake he spared this whole place” (Gen. 18:26). Today, in all dioceses of the Russian Church, a huge amount of work is going on: churches are being restored, theological schools, catechetical courses for adults and children are being opened, monasteries are being revived - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, recreated through the labors, help and prayers of the whole country, has become a visible symbol of this creative activity.

The essentially united Ecumenical Orthodox Church consists of 15 Local Orthodox Churches. Each of the Local Churches has administrative independence (autocephaly) from the others and is headed by its own Primate - a patriarch, archbishop or metropolitan. The head of all Universal Church is the Lord Jesus Christ.


Name of the church Base Pre-sto-i-tel Main city Calendar Languages ​​of God's service
1. Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Right-glorious Church 381; pat-ri-ar-hat since 451 pat-ri-arch Var-fo-lo-may Istanbul but-in-yuli-an-sky Greek, national languages
2. Alec-san-dri-yskaya Right-glorious Church I century (ap. Mark); pat-ri-ar-hat since 451 Pat-ri-arch Theodore II. Alexandria but-in-yuli-an-sky Greek, Arabic, African languages, English and African languages
3. Antio-Chinese Right-glorious Church I century (app. Peter and Paul); pat-ri-ar-hat since 451 Pat-ri-arch John X Damascus but-in-yuli-an-sky Arab
4. Jerusalem's Right-Glorious Church 1st century; pat-ri-ar-hat since 451 pat-ri-arch Theo-phil III Jerusalem Julian Greek and Arabic
5. Russian Orthodox Church 988 – Kiev Metropolitan in the composition of the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church; av-to-ke-fa-lia since 1448 Pat-ri-arch Kirill Moscow Julian Church-Slavic, national-languages
6. Georgian Orthodox Church I century (app. Andrew and Simon); 457 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Antio-Chinese Church Pat-ri-arch Ilia II Tbilisi Julian old-ro-Georgian
7. Serbian Orthodox Church IV century; 1219 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church pat-ri-arch Iri-ney Belgrade Julian Church-no-Sla-Vyan-skiy and Serbian-skiy
8. Romanian Orthodox Church IV century; 1885 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church pat-ri-arch Dani-il Bucharest but-in-yuli-an-sky Romanian
9. Bulgarian Orthodox Church 865; 919 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church pat-ri-arch Neo-fit Sofia but-in-yuli-an-sky Church-no-Sla-Vyan-skiy and Bol-gar-skiy
10. Cyprus Right-Glorious Church 47 (ap. Var-na-va) ar-hi-bishop-skop Chry-zo-stom II Niko-sia but-in-yuli-an-sky Greek
11. Hellenic (Greek) Right-glorious Church I century (Apostle Paul); 1850 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church ar-hi-bishop-skop Hieronymus II Athens but-in-yuli-an-sky Greek
12. Albanian Orthodox Church X century; 1937 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Church ar-hi-epi-skop Ana-sta-siy Tirana but-in-yuli-an-sky Albanian, Greek and Arumanian (Vlach)
13. Polish Orthodox Church X century; 1948 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Russian Church mit-ro-po-lit Sav-va Var-sha-va Julian Polish, Church-Slavic, Ukrainian, in Brazil - Port-to-Galian
14. The Right-Glorious Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia 9th century (St. Cyril and Methodius); 1951 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Russian Church mit-ro-po-lit Rosti-slav Pre-seam Yuli-an-sky, gri-go-ri-an-sky Church-no-Slavic, Czech, Slovenian
15. Right-glorious Church in America 1970 - av-to-ke-fa-lia from the Russian Church mit-ro-po-lit Tikhon Washington but-in-yuli-an-sky English

I read that the Patriarch of Constantinople is the main one among the Orthodox. How so? He has almost no flock, because mostly Muslims live in Istanbul. And in general, how does everything work in our church? Who is more important than whom?

S. Petrov, Kazan

In total there are 15 autocephalous (independent - Ed.) Orthodox churches.

Constantinople

Its status as Orthodox Church No. 1 was determined in 1054, when the Patriarch of Constantinople trampled the bread prepared according to Western custom. This became the reason for the split christian church into Orthodox and Catholic. The throne of Constantinople was the first Orthodox, and its special significance is not disputed. Although the flock of the current Patriarch of Constantinople, who bears the proud title of Patriarch of New Rome and Ecumenical, is small.

Alexandria

According to church tradition, the Alexandria Church was founded by the holy Apostle Mark. The second of the four oldest Orthodox patriarchates. Canonical territory - Africa. In the 3rd century. It was there that monasticism first appeared.

Antioch

The third in seniority, founded, according to legend, by Peter and Paul around 37. Jurisdiction: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, also Arab parishes in Europe, Northern and South America, Australia.

Jerusalem

The oldest church, occupying 4th place in the autocephalous churches. It has the name of the mother of all churches, because it was on her territory that everything took place major events described in the New Testament. Its first bishop was the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord.

Russian

Not being the oldest, upon its establishment it immediately received an honorable fifth place among churches. The largest and most influential autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Georgian

One of ancient churches in the world. According to legend, Georgia is the apostolic lot of the Mother of God.

Serbian

The first mass baptism of Serbs occurred under the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641).

Romanian

Has jurisdiction on the territory of Romania. It has state status: salaries to the clergy are paid from the state treasury.

Bulgarian

In Bulgaria, Christianity began to spread already in the 1st century. In 865, under St. Prince Boris, the general baptism of the Bulgarian people takes place.

Cyprus

10th place among autocephalous local churches.
One of the oldest local churches in the East. Founded by the Apostle Barnabas in 47.
In the 7th century fell under the Arab yoke, from which it was completely freed only in 965.

Helladic (Greek)

Historically, the Orthodox population of what is now Greece was within the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. Autocephaly was proclaimed in 1833. The king was named the head of the church. Has state status.

Albanian

The bulk of the congregation lives in southern regions Albania (Islam predominates in the center and north). Founded in the 10th century. as part of Constantinople, but then gained independence in 1937.

Polish

IN modern form was established in 1948. Before that for a long time 80% of the church's believers were Ukrainians, Belarusians and Rusyns.

Czech lands and Slovakia

Founded on the territory of the Great Moravian Principality in 863 through the labors of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles. 14th place among churches.

American

It is not recognized by Constantinople, as well as a number of other churches. The origin goes back to the creation in 1794 by the monks of the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior of the first Orthodox mission in America. American Orthodox believe that St. Herman of Alaska is their apostle.