List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow

This article lists the Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow, spiritual heads of the Russian Orthodox Church, since 1308 there have been 59.

History

The history of the Russian Orthodox Church begins with the Christianization of Kievan Rus' at Kyiv, the date of which is commonly given as 988; however, the evidence surrounding this event is contested. In 1316 the Metropolitan of Kyiv changed his see to the city of Vladimir, and in 1322 moved again to Moscow. In 1589, the see was elevated to a Patriarchate. The Patriarchate was abolished by the Church reform of Peter the Great in 1721 and replaced by the Most Holy Governing Synod, and the Bishop of Moscow came to be called a Metropolitan again. The Patriarchate was restored in 1917 and suspended by the Soviet government in 1925. It was reintroduced for the last time in 1943, during World War II by the initiative of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. To this date 19 of the Metropolitans have been glorified in the Russian Orthodox Church.

No.	Primate	Reign	Notes
1	Theodosius	1461–1464
2	Philip I	1464–1473
3	Gerontius	1473–1489
4	Zosimus	1490–1494
5	Simon	1495–1511
6	Varlaam	1511–1521
7	Daniel	1522–1539
8	Joasaphus	1539–1542
9	St. Macarius	1542–1563
10	Athanasius	1564–1566
11	St. Herman	1566
12	St. Philip II	1566–1568
13	Cyril III (IV)	1568–1572
14	Anthony	1572–1581
15	Dionysius II	1581–1587
16	St. Job	1587–1589	Elevated to Patriarch

No.	Primate	Reign	Notes
1	St. Job	1589–1605
	Ignatius	1605–1606
2	St. Hermogenes	1606–1612
Seat vacant 1612–1619
3	Philaret	1619–1633
4	Joasaphus I	1634–1640
Seat vacant 1640–1642
5	Joseph	1642–1652
6	Nikon	1652–1658
	Pitirim	1658–1667	First tenure; locum tenens
7	Joasaphus II	1667–1672
8	Pitirim	1672–1673	Second tenure
9	Joachim	1674–1690
10	Adrian	1690–1700
	Stefan	1700–1721	Locum tenens

No.	Primate	Reign	Notes
1	Stefan	1721–1722
2	Theophan	1722–1736
Seat vacant 1736–1742
3	Joseph	1742–1745
4	Plato I	1745–1754
	Hilarion	1754–1757	Coadjutor
5	Timothy	1757–1767
6	Ambrosius	1768–1771
	Samoel	1771–1775	Coadjutor
7	Plato II	1775–1812
8	Avgustin	1812–1819
9	Seraphim	1819–1821
10	St. Philaret	1821–1867
11	St. Innocent	1868–1879
12	Macarius I	1879–1882
13	Joannicius	1882–1891
14	Leontius	1891–1893
15	Sergius I	1893–1898
16	St. Vladimir	1898–1912
17	St. Macarius II	1912–1917

No.	Primate	Election	Reign		Notes
11	St. Tikhon	1917–18	4 December 1917	7 April 1925
Seat vacant 1925–1943					Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy, locum tenens (1925–1936), de facto only until 1926 Metropolitan Sergius of Nizhny Novgorod, Acting locum tenens (1926–1936) Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna (previously of Nizhny Novgorod), locum tenens (1936–1943)
12	Sergius I	1943	12 September 1943	15 May 1944
13	Alexy I	1945	4 February 1945	17 April 1970
14	Pimen I	1971	3 June 1971	3 May 1990
15	Alexy II	1990	10 June 1990	5 December 2008
16	Kirill I	2009	1 February 2009	Incumbent

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