Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

The Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC, Russian: Российская православная автономная церковь, РПАЦ) is a non-canonical Russian Orthodox church body. ROAC identifies as part of True Orthodoxy. It was formed in 1994 by a number of former ROCOR parishes, who formed an independent jurisdiction because of disagreements with the ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
TypeEastern Orthodox
ClassificationIndependent Eastern Orthodox
OrientationTrue Orthodox
PrimateMetropolitan Theodore (Gineyevsky)
Archbishops5
Bishops10
LanguageChurch Slavonic, some English
HeadquartersSuzdal, Russia
PossessionsRussia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Greece, Italy, Australia, Congo
Independence1994
RecognitionUnrecognized by most Orthodox churches – see True Orthodoxy
Separated fromRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (as Russian Orthodox Church Aboard in 1994)
Official websiteRussian Orthodox Autonomous Church

Their synod is located in Suzdal, Russia. The ROAC rejects the "Sergianist heresy" and holds that the sacraments of the Moscow Patriarchate (considered distinct from the Russian Orthodox Church that existed before the Bolshevik revolution) are anathema or invalid and ineffectual for salvation.[1] The ROAC upholds in principle and emphasizes the ROCOR 1983 anathema against ecumenism.[2]

The ROAC has 10 bishops, including five Archbishops (Seraphim, Hilarion, Victor, Timothy and Andrei),[3] led by Metropolitan Theodore. The ROAC has a section in Latvia called the Latvian Orthodox Autonomous Church.

History

In 1990 some surviving members of the Catacomb Church organized the Russian Orthodox Free Church and acknowledged their subordination to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. In 1998, this church, which numbers approximately 60 congregations in the Russian Federation and the former Soviet republics, changed its name to the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church.[4]

In 2009 a Russian court confiscated 13 churches in Suzdal from the ROAC. In March 2015 Federal Bailiffs Service officials took two relics from a ROAC cathedral by force and gave them to the Russian Orthodox Church.[5][6][7][8]

See also

References
  1. "What we believe". Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church - roacusa.org.
  2. Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church website: Solemn Anathema Against Ecumenism
  3. "RPAC EPISCOPATE". Archived from the original on 2013-12-06.
  4. Russian court seizure of independent Orthodox churches threatens Russia's future, activists say
  5. Russian court seizure of independent Orthodox churches threatens Russia's future, activists say
  6. Security Services Interrogate Head of Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
  7. "Российская православная автономная Церковь". Иерархия церквей. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  8. Последний путь мощей?
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