Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church (also known as the Orthodox Catholic Church of Russia) (??????? ???????????? ???????) is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs and primates of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In this way Russian Orthodox believers are in communion with all other Eastern Orthodox believers.

Modern condition

Today, the Russian Orthodox Church is the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches. Over 90% of ethnic Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox. The number of people regularly attending church services is considerably lower, but growing every year. The Church has over 23000 parishes, 154 bishops, 635 monasteries, 102 clerical schools, primarily in the territory of former Soviet Union ( however, there is also a small number of parishes in other countries ). Prior to the revolution of 1917 the Russian Orthodox Church was the largest landowner in Russia, owning over 12 million acres (49,000 km²); some of that land was officially returned to the Church by 2004.

Related Topics:
Russians - Acres

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Since 2002 there is considerable friction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican, when Patriarch Alexius II condemned the Vatican's creation of a Catholic diocesean structure for Russian territory. This is seen by the leadership of the Russian church as a throwback to prior attempts by the Vatican to proselytize the Russian Orthodox faithful to become Roman Catholic. This point of view is based upon the stance of the Russian Orthodox Church (and the Eastern Orthodox Church) that the Church of Rome is but one of many equal Christian churches, and that as such, it is straying into the territory "belonging" to another co-equal church. The Catholic Church on the other hand, while acknowledging the primacy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, believes that the small Catholic minority in Russia, in continuous existence since at least the 18th century, should be served by a fully developed church hierarchy.

Related Topics:
2002 - Vatican - Patriarch Alexius II - Catholic - Proselytize - Eastern Orthodox Church - Christian

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The issue of enroachment by other Christian denominations into Russia is a particularly sensitive one to some in the Russian Orthodox Church, since the church has only recently come out from under considerable persecution during the regime of the Soviet Union. Those holding this point of view in the Russian Orthodox Church, see the proselytizing by Catholic and Protestant denominations as taking unfair advantage of the still-recovering condition of the Russian Church, having just come out of 70 years of Communist oppression. On the other hand, smaller religious movements ( particularly, baptists and members of other Protestant denominations, brought into Russia by western missionaries in the past decade ) perceive that the state provides unfair support to one religion and suppresses others. Indeed, under the 1997 Russian law, those religious organizations that couldn't provide official proof of their existence for the preceding 15 years were significantly restricted in their rights and abilities to proselytize. The law was formally intended to combat the destructive cults. Nevertheless, it was worded in such a manner that any organisation, no matter how ancient, that couldn't document its presence in the Soviet Union before the fall of Communism, was automatically considered a destructive cult. Consequently, this law gave full rights only to a small number of "first-rank" religions, such as Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism. The situation is expected to normalise as the 15-year window starts to slide over the post-Communist period.

Related Topics:
Soviet Union - Catholic - Protestant - Communist - Baptists - 1997 Russian law - Destructive cults

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There is also, due to its deep cultural roots, something of a favoritism towards the Church from the Russian government. It is common for the President of Russia to publicly meet with the Patriarch on the church holidays such as Easter. Meetings with the representatives of Islam and Buddhism happen much less frequently. Catholic and Protestant denominations don't enjoy any recognition from the government at all.

Related Topics:
Patriarch - Easter

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The Russian Orthodox Church should not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (also known as the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad), which was founded by Russian communities outside of Russia, which refused to recognize the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church in then-Communist Russia.

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Russian Orthodox Church also has a history in China.

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