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86-616: Old St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church , also known as the Eklutna Chapel , is a historic Russian Orthodox church in Eklutna, Alaska . It is about one mile inland from the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet . The church, built of hewn spruce logs, is about 5 by 8 metres (16 ft × 26 ft) in plan, and was built in about 1894, . It was moved to its current location in 1900. A new church

172-719: A Synod in exile was created. The Ecumenical Patriarchate continued to recognize the LOC, even after Augustine's death. In April 1978, as result of pressures by the Russian Orthodox Church upon the Ecumenical Patriarchate , the latter declared the LOC of the Ecumenical Patriarchate inactive. The church also suffered oppression in the last years of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev . In December 1992,

258-896: A property in Alaska on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Russian Orthodox church Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The Russian Orthodox Church ( ROC ; Russian : Русская православная церковь , romanized :  Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov' , abbreviated as РПЦ), alternatively legally known as

344-418: A contested issue. Following the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, Peter I of Russia ( r.  1682–1725 ) decided against an election of a new patriarch, and drawing on the clergy that came from Ukraine, he appointed Stefan Yavorsky as locum tenens . Peter believed that Russia's resources, including the church, could be used to establish a modern European state and he sought to strengthen

430-687: A critic of the Moscow Patriarchate who was one of those who briefly gained access to the KGB 's archives in the early 1990s, argued that the Moscow Patriarchate was "practically a subsidiary, a sister company of the KGB". Critics charge that the archives showed the extent of active participation of the top ROC hierarchs in the KGB efforts overseas. George Trofimoff , the highest-ranking US military officer ever indicted for, and convicted of, espionage by

516-575: A delegation to the king of Poland warning him not to accept Gregory; Jonah also attempted to persuade feudal princes and nobles who resided in Lithuania to continue to side with Orthodoxy, but this attempt failed. The fall of Constantinople and the beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church contributed to political consolidation in Russia and the development of a new identity based on awareness that Moscow

602-605: A large part of Latgalian people, in general, had converted to Orthodoxy voluntarily. There were Eastern Orthodox churches in Jersika from the evidence of the Livonian Chronicle ; many church-related words came into pre-Latvian languages in that time. An Orthodox presence continued after the Teutonic Order conquest at least officially, in the form of churches for Russian merchants and others, but these were small communities among

688-774: A majority of Catholics before 1525 and Lutherans afterwards. After Latvia was annexed to the Russian Empire in the 18th century (most of Latvia, a result of the Great Northern War by the Treaty of Nystad , the Latgale region after the First Partition of Poland in 1772), Russian and Orthodox presence increased substantially, but the Eastern Orthodox Church remained foreign to some Latvians. The first orthodox church after

774-584: A move that caused division among clergy and faithful that persisted until 1946. Between 1917 and 1935, 130,000 Eastern Orthodox priests were arrested. Of these, 95,000 were put to death. Many thousands of victims of persecution became recognized in a special canon of saints known as the " new martyrs and confessors of Russia". When Patriarch Tikhon died in 1925, the Soviet authorities forbade patriarchal election. Patriarchal locum tenens (acting Patriarch) Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky, 1887–1944), going against

860-626: A multi-candidate election, the Church again attempted to run its own religious candidates in the 1937 elections . However the support of multicandidate elections was retracted several months before the elections were held and in neither 1929 nor 1937 were any candidates of the Orthodox Church elected. After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, Joseph Stalin revived the Russian Orthodox Church to intensify patriotic support for

946-692: A series of reforms led to a schism in the Russian Church , as the Old Believers opposed the changes. The ROC currently claims exclusive jurisdiction over the Eastern Orthodox Christians, irrespective of their ethnic background, who reside in the former member republics of the Soviet Union , excluding Georgia . The ROC also created the autonomous Church of Japan and Chinese Orthodox Church . The ROC eparchies in Belarus and Latvia , since

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1032-753: A single candidate for the office of bishop or any other high-ranking office, much less a member of the Holy Synod, went through without confirmation by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the KGB ". Professor Nathaniel Davis points out: "If the bishops wished to defend their people and survive in office, they had to collaborate to some degree with the KGB, with the commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs, and with other party and governmental authorities". Patriarch Alexy II, acknowledged that compromises were made with

1118-668: A total of 95,259 monks and nuns in Russia. The year 1917 was a major turning point in Russian history, and also the Russian Orthodox Church. In early March 1917 (O.S.), the Tsar was forced to abdicate , the Russian empire began to implode, and the government's direct control of the Church was all but over by August 1917. On 15 August (O.S.), in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin,

1204-623: Is disputed which church has been the legitimate successor to the Russian Orthodox Church that had existed before 1925. In 1927, Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgiyevsky) of Paris broke with the ROCOR (along with Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York, leader of the Russian Metropolia in America). In 1930, after taking part in a prayer service in London in supplication for Christians suffering under

1290-525: Is little information about Christianity in sources in the period between 969 and 988. Ten years after seizing power, Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in 988 and began Christianizing his people upon his return. That year was decreed by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 as the date of the Christianization of the country. According to the Chronicle , Vladimir had previously sent envoys to investigate

1376-514: The 1945 Local Council from the representatives of the clergy and the laity. NKVD demanded "to outline persons who have religious authority among the clergy and believers, and at the same time checked for civic or patriotic work". In the letter sent in September 1944, it was emphasized: "It is important to ensure that the number of nominated candidates is dominated by the agents of the NKBD, capable of holding

1462-655: The Apostle Andrew visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea before making his way to Chersonesus in Crimea . According to the legend, Andrew reached the future location of Kiev and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city with many churches. Then, "he came to the [land of the] Slovenians where Novgorod now [stands]" and observed the locals, before eventually arriving in Rome . Despite

1548-666: The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe . Moreover, in the 1929 elections , the Orthodox Church attempted to formulate itself as a full-scale opposition group to the Communist Party, and attempted to run candidates of its own against the Communist candidates. Article 124 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution officially allowed for freedom of religion within the Soviet Union, and along with initial statements of it being

1634-585: The Council of Florence , the only Russian prelate present at the council signed the union, which, according to his companion, was only under duress. Metropolitan Isidore left Florence on 6 September 1439 and returned to Moscow on 19 March 1441. The chronicles say that three days after arriving in Moscow, Grand Prince Vasily II arrested Isidore and placed him under supervision in the Chudov Monastery . According to

1720-681: The Local ( Pomestniy ) Council of the ROC, the first such convention since the late 17th century, opened. The council continued its sessions until September 1918 and adopted a number of important reforms, including the restoration of Patriarchate , a decision taken 3 days after the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government in Petrograd on 25 October (O.S.). On 5 November, Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow

1806-488: The Mongol invasions , Metropolitan Maximus moved his seat to Vladimir in 1299, "being unable to tolerate Tatar violence", according to a later chronicle. His successor, Peter , found himself caught in the conflict between the principalities of Tver and Moscow for supremacy in northwest Russia . Peter moved his residence to Moscow in 1325 and became a strong ally of the prince of Moscow. During Peter's tenure in Moscow,

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1892-460: The Moscow Patriarchate ( Russian : Московский патриархат , romanized :  Moskovskiy patriarkhat ), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The primate of the ROC is the patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' . The Christianization of Kievan Rus' commenced in 988 with the baptism of Vladimir the Great and his subjects by the clergy of

1978-456: The Russian SFSR , between 40% and 50% of newborn babies (depending on the region) were baptized. Over 60% of all deceased received Christian funeral services. Beginning in the late 1980s, under Mikhail Gorbachev, the new political and social freedoms resulted in the return of many church buildings to the church, so they could be restored by local parishioners. A pivotal point in the history of

2064-623: The Russian invasion of Ukraine . As of December 2022, no other Orthodox churches have recognized the autocephaly of the Latvian Church. Orthodoxy developed in Latvia in the 11th century as a mission field of the diocese of Polotsk . The country remained mostly pagan until it was conquered in the 13th century by the Catholic Teutonic Order . Prior to this, however, part of prominent Latgalian noblemen (e. g., Visvaldis , Vetseke ) and

2150-435: The Soviet Union , which had refused to recognise the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate that was de facto headed by Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky . The two churches reconciled on 17 May 2007 ; the ROCOR is now a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the foundational narratives associated with the history of Orthodoxy in Russia is found in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle , which says that

2236-533: The Soviet invasion of Latvia , the Russian Orthodox Church turned the territory of the Latvian Orthodox Church into an exarchate of the ROC which comprised the territories of Estonia and Latvia. Metropolitan Augustine of Riga and all Latvia, primate of the LOC, was summoned to Moscow where he was forced, on March 28, 1941, to sign a decree recognizing the situation. On 31 March 1941, the ROC officially abolished

2322-683: The United States and sentenced to life imprisonment on 27 September 2001, had been "recruited into the service of the KGB" by Igor Susemihl (a.k.a. Zuzemihl), a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church (subsequently, a high-ranking hierarch—the ROC Metropolitan Iriney of Vienna , who died in July 1999). Konstanin Kharchev, former chairman of the Soviet Council on Religious Affairs, explained: "Not

2408-415: The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople , which traditionally marks the beginning of the history of Russian Christianity. Starting in the 14th century, Moscow served as the primary residence of the metropolitan , and in 1448, the ROC declared autocephaly . Later, in 1589, the metropolitan of Moscow was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century,

2494-507: The non-possessors , who opposed monastic landholding except for the purposes of charity in addition to strong involvement of the church in the affairs of the state, while Joseph of Volotsk (1439–1515) led a movement that supported strong church involvement in the state's affairs. By 1551, the Stoglav Synod addressed the lack of uniformity in existing ecclesial practices. Metropolitan Macarius also collected "all holy books... available in

2580-533: The Bolsheviks trying to take control of the monastery's premises and the believers, Patriarch Tikhon issued a proclamation that anathematised the perpetrators of such acts. The church was caught in the crossfire of the Russian Civil War that began later in 1918, and church leadership, despite their attempts to be politically neutral (from the autumn of 1918), as well as the clergy generally were perceived by

2666-605: The Chancery of the President must be notified of the appointment of the Head of the church, metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, and by 31 October, the Church will have to align its statutes with the amendments made to the Law on the status of the church. The decision came a few days after the president of Latvia, Egils Levits , tabled the bill saying that "this bill restores the historical status of

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2752-586: The Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated materialism and atheism in schools. Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed. Orthodox clergy and active believers were treated by the Soviet law-enforcement apparatus as anti-revolutionary elements and were habitually subjected to formal prosecutions on political charges, arrests, exiles, imprisonment in camps , and later could also be incarcerated in mental hospitals . However,

2838-541: The Latvian Orthodox Church was again proclaimed autonomous, preserving canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2001, a council of the Latvian Orthodox Church canonised Archbishop Jānis in recognition of his martyrdom in 1934. In 2006, the "Order of the holy martyr Jānis" was instituted to reward those who have served the Eastern Orthodox Church and its aims. In modern Latvia, there are 350,000 Orthodox Church members. The services are in Church Slavonic and

2924-476: The Latvian Orthodox Church: the Latvian Orthodox Church became an autonomous church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated the LOC from the rank of archdiocese to that of Metropolitanate ; the LOC was then named "Metropolitanate of Riga and all Latvia". The autonomy of the Latvian Orthodox Church was ended abruptly by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 , which

3010-684: The Latvians due to its use of the Latvian language and by personal appeal of local Orthodox bishops who sought to support native Latvian inhabitants whose rights were limited by Baltic Germans . In the 1880s the Orthodox Nativity Cathedral was built in Riga. However, it was always regarded suspiciously by the Lutheran Germanic nobles of the area; conversely the predominantly German character of

3096-567: The Lutheran Church in Latvia was a factor in the movement of some 40,000 Latvians from the Lutheran to the Orthodox Church. When religious freedom was proclaimed in 1905, about 12,000 Latvians converted from Orthodoxy to Lutheranism. During World War I , the property of the Orthodox Church in Latvia was confiscated by occupying German forces, and in the early years of independent Latvia the government

3182-461: The Northern War was Alexeyevsky monastery in Riga old town. The Latvian Orthodox Church as a body including ethnic Latvians as well as Russians dates back to the 1840s, when native Latvians (who were at that time subjects of the Russian Empire ) petitioned Nicholas I of Russia to be allowed to conduct services in their native tongue. The Orthodox Church enjoyed some success in its missions among

3268-428: The Orthodox Church of Latvia", stressing that the independence of the Church established "by the 6(19) July 1921 Tomos issued by Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Tikhon to Archbishop Jānis Pommers and the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 8 October 1926 on the Status of the Orthodox Church". The Latvian Orthodox Church, after the presidential and parliamentary announcements, clarified that: The state established

3354-436: The Russian Church. Jonah's policy as metropolitan was to recover the areas lost to the Uniate church. He was able to include Lithuania and Kiev to his title, but not Galicia . Lithuania was separated from his jurisdiction in 1458, and the influence of Catholicism increased in those regions. As soon as Vasily II heard about the ordination of Gregory as metropolitan of the newly established metropolis of Kiev , he sent

3440-500: The Russian Orthodox Church came in 1988, the millennial anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus' . Throughout the summer of that year, major government-supported celebrations took place in Moscow and other cities; many older churches and some monasteries were reopened. An implicit ban on religious propaganda on state TV was finally lifted. For the first time in the history of the Soviet Union , people could watch live transmissions of church services on television. Gleb Yakunin ,

3526-406: The Russian land" and completed the Grand Menaion , which was influential in shaping the narrative tradition of Russian Orthodoxy. In 1589, during the reign of Feodor I and under the direction of Boris Godunov , the metropolitan of Moscow, Job , was consecrated as the first Russian patriarch with the blessing of Jeremias II of Constantinople . In the decree establishing the patriarchate ,

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3612-420: The Soviet authorities as a "counter-revolutionary" force and thus subject to suppression and eventual liquidation. In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed. The Soviet Union, formally created in December 1922, was the first state to have elimination of religion as an ideological objective espoused by the country's ruling political party. Toward that end,

3698-449: The Soviet government by bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate, himself included, and he publicly repented for these compromises. Latvian Orthodox Church Until 2022, the Latvian Orthodox Church was universally recognized as a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church . On 8 September 2022, the Latvian parliament directed the Latvian Orthodox Church to accept a status of autocephaly , due to Patriarch Kirill 's support of

3784-433: The Soviet policy vis-a-vis organised religion vacillated over time between, on the one hand, a utopian determination to substitute secular rationalism for what they considered to be an outmoded "superstitious" worldview and, on the other, pragmatic acceptance of the tenaciousness of religious faith and institutions. In any case, religious beliefs and practices did persist, not only in the domestic and private spheres but also in

3870-411: The Soviets, Evlogy was removed from office by Sergius and replaced. Most of Evlogy's parishes in Western Europe remained loyal to him; Evlogy then petitioned Ecumenical Patriarch Photius II to be received under his canonical care and was received in 1931, making a number of parishes of Russian Orthodox Christians outside Russia, especially in Western Europe an Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as

3956-403: The XXXIV Apostolic canon , which led to a split with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia abroad and the Russian True Orthodox Church (Russian Catacomb Church) within the Soviet Union, as they allegedly remained faithful to the Canons of the Apostles, declaring the part of the church led by Metropolitan Sergius schism , sometimes coined Sergianism . Due to this canonical disagreement it

4042-467: The absence of clergy, and defining their own sacred places and forms of piety. Also apparent was the proliferation of what the Orthodox establishment branded as "sectarianism", including both non-Eastern Orthodox Christian denominations, notably Baptists , and various forms of popular Orthodoxy and mysticism. In 1914, there were 55,173 Russian Orthodox churches and 29,593 chapels , 112,629 priests and deacons , 550 monasteries and 475 convents with

4128-482: The authority of the monarch. He was also inspired by church–state relations in the West and therefore brought the institutional structure of the church in line with other ministries. Theophan Prokopovich wrote Peter's Spiritual Regulation , which no longer legally recognized the separation of the church and the state. Peter replaced the patriarch with a council known as the Most Holy Synod in 1721, which consisted of appointed bishops, monks, and priests. The church

4214-441: The autonomy of the Orthodox church of Latvia. During the occupation of Latvia by Germany , Metropolitan Augustine on 20 July 1941 declared the reestablishment of the LOC. However, many parishes did not join Augustine, and the Germans were supporting the Russian exarchate. In 1944, after the Soviet re-occupation of Latvia , Metropolitan Augustine and numerous members of the LOC were forced to go in exile in West Germany . There,

4300-422: The beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church. Although not all Russian clergy supported Jonah, the move was subsequently justified in the Russian point of view following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which was interpreted as divine punishment. While it is possible that the failure to obtain the blessing from Constantinople was not intentional, nevertheless, this marked the beginning of independence of

4386-400: The chroniclers of the grand prince, "the princes, the boyars and many others — and especially the Russian bishops — remained silent, slumbered and fell asleep" until "the divinely wise, Christ-loving sovereign, Grand Prince Vasily Vasilyevich shamed Isidor and called him not his pastor and teacher, but a wicked and baneful wolf". Despite the chronicles calling him a heretical apostate , Isidore

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4472-466: The different faiths. After receiving glowing reports about Constantinople, he captured Chersonesus in Crimea and demanded that the sister of Basil II be sent there. The marriage took place on the condition that Vladimir would be also baptized there. Vladimir had lent considerable military support to the Byzantine emperor and may have besieged the city due to it having sided with the rebellious Bardas Phokas . After Kiev lost its significance following

4558-460: The dissident movement intending to better fulfil his calling as a priest, there was a spiritual link between Men and many of the dissidents. For some of them he was a friend; for others, a godfather; for many (including Yakunin ), a spiritual father. According to Metropolitan Vladimir , by 1988 the number of functioning churches in the Soviet Union had fallen to 6,893 and the number of functioning convents and monasteries to just 21. In 1987 in

4644-406: The fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, enjoy various degrees of self-government, albeit short of the status of formal ecclesiastical autonomy. The ROC should also not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (or ROCOR, also known as the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad), headquartered in the United States . The ROCOR was instituted in the 1920s by Russian communities outside

4730-416: The foundation for the Dormition Cathedral was laid and Peter was buried there. By choosing to reside and be buried in Moscow, Peter had designated Moscow as the future center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Peter was succeeded by Theognostus , who, like his predecessor, pursued policies that supported the rise of the Moscow principality. During the first four years of his tenure, the Dormition Cathedral

4816-469: The general population, large numbers remained religious. Some Orthodox believers and even priests took part in the dissident movement and became prisoners of conscience . The Orthodox priests Gleb Yakunin , Sergiy Zheludkov and others spent years in Soviet prisons and exile for their efforts in defending freedom of worship. Among the prominent figures of that time were Dmitri Dudko and Aleksandr Men . Although he tried to keep away from practical work of

4902-419: The government by 1926 and, against much opposition from leftists and others, in stabilizing the situation of the church. While opposing the Bolsheviks , he maintained the Latvian Orthodox Church within the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1934, he was tortured and then assassinated. His killers never been caught and there are many theories surrounding his death, one that he was killed by Soviet agents. In modern times he

4988-412: The jurisdiction of Constantinople to that of Moscow. The handover brought millions of faithful and half a dozen dioceses under the ultimate administrative care of the patriarch of Moscow, and later of the Holy Synod of Russia, leading to a significant Ukrainian presence in the Russian Church, which continued well into the 18th century. The exact terms and conditions of the handover of the metropolis remains

5074-409: The lack of historical evidence supporting this narrative, modern church historians in Russia have often incorporated this tale into their studies. In the 10th century, Christianity began to take root in Kievan Rus' . Towards the end of the reign of Igor , Christians are mentioned among the Varangians . In the text about the treaty with the Byzantine Empire in 944–945, the chronicler also records

5160-473: The last Byzantine emperor, and the defeat of the Tatars, helped to solidify this view. By the turn of the 16th century, the consolidation of Orthodoxy in Russia continued as Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod created the first complete manuscript translation of the Bible into Church Slavonic in 1499, known as Gennady's Bible . At the same time, two movements within the Russian Church had emerged with differing ecclesial visions. Nilus of Sora (1433–1508) led

5246-463: The line that we need at the Council". A new and widespread persecution of the church was subsequently instituted under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. A second round of repression, harassment and church closures took place between 1959 and 1964 when Nikita Khrushchev was in office. The number of Orthodox churches fell from around 22,000 in 1959 to around 8,000 in 1965; priests, monks and faithful were killed or imprisoned and

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5332-508: The members are predominantly Russian speakers. Ethnic Latvians are a minority among church members; there are parishes with services in Latvian in Riga, Ainaži , Kolka , Veclaicene and in other places. On 9 September 2022, the Latvian parliament adopted amendments to the Law on the Latvian Orthodox Church affirming the full independence of the Latvian Orthodox Church with all its dioceses, parishes, and institutions from any church authority outside Latvia (autocephalous church). By 1 October,

5418-401: The number of functioning monasteries was reduced to less than twenty. Subsequent to Khrushchev's ousting, the Church and the government remained on unfriendly terms until 1988. In practice, the most important aspect of this conflict was that openly religious people could not join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , which meant that they could not hold any political office. However, among

5504-537: The oath-taking ceremony that took place in Constantinople for Igor's envoys as well as the equivalent ceremony that took place in Kiev. Igor's wife Olga was baptized sometime in the mid-10th century; however, scholars have disputed the exact year and place of her conversion, with dates ranging from 946 to 960. Most scholars tend to agree that she was baptized in Constantinople, though some argue that her conversion took place in Kiev. Olga's son Sviatoslav opposed conversion, despite persuasion from his mother, and there

5590-429: The opinion of a major part of the church's parishes, in 1927 issued a declaration accepting the Soviet authority over the church as legitimate, pledging the church's cooperation with the government and condemning political dissent within the church. By this declaration, Sergius granted himself authority that he, being a deputy of imprisoned Metropolitan Peter and acting against his will, had no right to assume according to

5676-425: The patriarch of "defiling the faith" and "pouring wrathful fury upon the Russian land". The result was a schism , with those who resisted the new practices being known as the Old Believers . In the aftermath of the Treaty of Pereyaslav , the Ottomans , supposedly acting on behalf of the Russian regent Sophia Alekseyevna , pressured the patriarch of Constantinople into transferring the metropolis of Kiev from

5762-481: The peasantry, there was widespread interest in spiritual-ethical literature and non-conformist moral-spiritual movements, an upsurge in pilgrimage and other devotions to sacred spaces and objects (especially icons), persistent beliefs in the presence and power of the supernatural (apparitions, possession, walking-dead, demons, spirits, miracles and magic), the renewed vitality of local "ecclesial communities" actively shaping their own ritual and spiritual lives, sometimes in

5848-427: The priestly families of their diocese. In 1909, a volume of essays appeared under the title Vekhi ("Milestones" or "Landmarks"), authored by a group of leading left-wing intellectuals, including Sergei Bulgakov , Peter Struve and former Marxists . It is possible to see a similarly renewed vigor and variety in religious life and spirituality among the lower classes, especially after the upheavals of 1905. Among

5934-482: The renovated Orthodox doctrine, including that of sobornost . The resurgence of Eastern Orthodoxy was reflected in Russian literature, an example is the figure of Starets Zosima in Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's Brothers Karamazov . In the Russian Orthodox Church, the clergy , over time, formed a hereditary caste of priests . Marrying outside of these priestly families was strictly forbidden; indeed, some bishops did not even tolerate their clergy marrying outside of

6020-402: The sacred liturgical language, the rituals, the traditions and the inner church life. Besides the Patriarchate-affiliated church, Latvia has a number of Old Believer Orthodox Christian communities as well. The priestless congregation of the Grebenstchikov House of Prayer in Riga, affiliated with the Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church , is considered the oldest extant Old Believer congregation in

6106-418: The scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognized its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war. The Russian Orthodox church was drastically weakened in May 1922, when the Renovated (Living) Church , a reformist movement backed by the Soviet secret police, broke away from Patriarch Tikhon (also see the Josephites and the Russian True Orthodox Church ),

6192-532: The state for support. The late 18th century saw the rise of starchestvo under Paisiy Velichkovsky and his disciples at the Optina Monastery . This marked a beginning of a significant spiritual revival in the Russian Church after a lengthy period of modernization, personified by such figures as Demetrius of Rostov and Platon of Moscow . Aleksey Khomyakov , Ivan Kireevsky and other lay theologians with Slavophile leanings elaborated some key concepts of

6278-462: The status of our Church as autocephalous. The state has determined that the Latvian Orthodox Church is legally independent from any ecclesiastical center located outside of Latvia, maintaining spiritual, prayerful and liturgical communion with all canonical Orthodox churches of the world. The change of status does not change the Orthodox faith, the doctrines, the liturgical life of the Church, the calendar,

6364-411: The territories controlled by Bolsheviks was effectively reduced to services and sermons inside church buildings. The Decree and attempts by Bolshevik officials to requisition church property caused sharp resentment on the part of the ROC clergy and provoked violent clashes on some occasions: on 1 February (19 January O.S.), hours after the bloody confrontation in Petrograd's Alexander Nevsky Lavra between

6450-542: The war effort. In the early hours of 5 September 1943, Metropolitans Sergius (Stragorodsky), Alexius (Simansky) and Nicholas (Yarushevich) had a meeting with Stalin and received permission to convene a council on 8 September 1943, which elected Sergius Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus'. This is considered by some as violation of the Apostolic canon , as no church hierarch could be consecrated by secular authorities. A new patriarch

6536-555: The whole Russian tsardom is called a "third Rome". By the mid-17th century, the religious practices of the Russian Orthodox Church were distinct from those of the Greek Orthodox Church . Patriarch Nikon reformed the church in order to bring most of its practices back into accommodation with the contemporary forms of Greek Orthodox worship. Nikon's efforts to correct the translations of texts and institute liturgical reforms were not accepted by all. Archpriest Avvakum accused

6622-567: Was also overseen by an ober-procurator that would directly report to the emperor. Peter's reforms marked the beginning of the Synodal period of the Russian Church, which would last until 1917. In order to make monasticism more socially useful, Peter began the processes that would eventually lead to the large-scale secularization of monastic landholdings in 1764 under Catherine II . 822 monasteries were closed between 1701 and 1805, and monastic communities became highly regulated, receiving funds from

6708-557: Was built next to the old in 1962. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. This and other Russian Orthodox churches of the Alaskan Diocese were studied during the National Register of Historic Places inventory and Historic American Buildings Survey. This article about a church or other Christian place of worship in Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about

6794-406: Was completed and an additional four stone churches were constructed in Moscow. By the end of 1331, Theognostus was able to restore ecclesiastical control over Lithuania. Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige. His successor Alexius lost ecclesiastical over Lithuania in 1355, but kept the traditional title. On 5 July 1439, at

6880-553: Was elected, theological schools were opened, and thousands of churches began to function. The Moscow Theological Academy Seminary , which had been closed since 1918, was re-opened. In December 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine lifted classified top secret status of documents revealing that the NKVD of the USSR and its units were engaged in the selection of candidates for participation in

6966-487: Was followed by the German Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944, and a second Soviet annexation lasting from 1944 to 1991. The church suffered oppression during this period, as did organized religion throughout the Soviet Union, though this was partly mitigated from 1943 to 1948 (due to the support of the Church during World War II ) and in the last years of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev . On 24 February 1941, after

7052-465: Was not eager to recognize the church. In this difficult situation, Jānis (John) Pommers , a native Latvian and graduate of Riga Orthodox Seminary, was appointed Archbishop of Riga in 1921. On July 6, 1921, the Russian Orthodox Church granted autonomy (limited self-governance) to the Orthodox Church in Latvia , thus creating the Latvian Orthodox Church (named "Archidiocese of Riga and all Latvia"). Pommers succeeded in winning recognition from

7138-411: Was only metropolitanate in the Orthodox oikoumene that remained politically independent. The formulation of the idea of Moscow as the " third Rome " is primarily associated with the monk Philotheus of Pskov , who stated that "Moscow alone shines over all the earth more radiantly than the sun" because of its fidelity to the faith. The marriage of Ivan III to Sophia Palaiologina , the niece of

7224-410: Was proclaimed by Orthodox church as martyr and saint. Icons of him can be seen in many churches. After the murder of the church's primate Archbishop John (Pommers) on 21 October 1934 and because of the political situation at that time, the Latvian Orthodox Church asked to come under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate . In February 1936, the Ecumenical Patriarchate accepted the request of

7310-485: Was recognized as the lawful metropolitan by Vasily II until he left Moscow on 15 September 1441. For the following seven years, the seat of the metropolitan remained vacant. Vasily II defeated the rebellious Dmitry Shemyaka and returned to Moscow in February 1447. On 15 December 1448, a council of Russian bishops elected Jonah as metropolitan, without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople, which marked

7396-574: Was selected as the first Russian Patriarch after about 200 years of Synodal rule. In early February 1918, the Bolshevik-controlled government of Soviet Russia enacted the Decree on separation of church from state and school from church that proclaimed separation of church and state in Russia, freedom to "profess any religion or profess none", deprived religious organisations of the right to own any property and legal status. Legal religious activity in

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