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Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

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The '''Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church''' (or {{lang-ru|Российская православная автономная церковь}}, before 1998 - '''Free Russian Orthodox Church''' or , {{lang-ru|Российская православная свободная церковь}}, the Moscow Patriarchate also has the designation '''Russian True Orthodox ChurchSuzdal schism''', {{lang-ru|Суздальский раскол}}) is one of several [[True Orthodox|"True" Orthodox]] churches in Russia which has roots in the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]] and claims to be a continuation of the [[Catacomb Church of Russia]]. Its current primate is Metropolitan Valentine Theodore (Gineyevsky) of Sudzal and Vladimir and Sudzal (1990 – presentsince 2012). It functions independently and is not in communion with any of the recognized Orthodox Churches.
==Establishment of the "Free Russian Orthodox Church"==
At the end of World War II, many parts of the catacomb church reconciled with the [[Moscow Patriarchate]], due to the election of a new patriarch ([[Alexei I (Simansky) of Moscow|Alexei I]]) and to a lessening of the level of persecution on the part of the Soviets. By the 1980s, what was left of the catacomb church no longer had any hierarchy of its own, and was very small and scattered. Due to a desire to support these people, the ROCOR decided to consecrate a secret bishop for the catacomb church in 1982—Bishop Lazar (Zhurbenko). This was the first step towards the establishment of ROCOR parishes inside Russia—a policy that was controversial even at the time, and which ROCOR later came to regret. These parishes came to be known as the ''Free Russian Orthodox Church'' (FROC).
A year later, after unsuccessful attempts to find an acceptable means of self-government for the Russian parishes, on [[February 11]]/24, 1995, the Synod of ROCOR suspended five bishops of the FROC at one time. The result was a [[schism]] between the Synod of ROCOR and a large portion of the FROC.
In 1995, Abp. Lazarus, with Bishops Benjamin and Agafangel, came back to ROCOR, while three bishops, with Abp. Valentine at the head, remained in schism. In May 1995 the long-term secretary of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, the famous [[Church History|church historian]] and [[canon (Canon law)|canonist]], Bishop [[Gregory (Grabbe)of Washington and Florida|Gregory (Grabbe)]], visited Suzdal. He approved the decisions of the Russian bishops to withdraw from administrative subordination to the ROCOR synod just before he passed away. Some attributed this to his age, while others claimed this was due to his belief that they were following the "true" historical course of ROCOR.
In October 1998 the "Free Russian Orthodox Church" (FROC) headed by Valentine was re-registered under the name of the ''Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church'' (ROAC). Presently the [[episcopate]] of ROAC consists of twelve bishops with over 300 parishes worldwide. The head of the church was elevated to the rank of [[Metropolitan]] in March 2001.
==American parish list==
*[http://www.roacusa.org/SaintNicholas Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker Orthodox Parish], Elmwood Park, New Jersey - Bp. Andrei of Pavlovskoye, Protopresbyter Vladimir Shishkoff (retired)
*Christ the Savior Orthodox Parish , Fort Wayne, Indiana - Fr. Isaac Henke*St. Sophia Orthodox Parish, Hobart, Indiana - Dn. Michael McCombs*[http://www.stathanasiosroacusa.org/SaintPeter/htdocs St.net Saint Athanasios Peter the Great Aleut Orthodox Parish], San AngeloCovington, TX Louisiana - Fr. Elias Greer, Chancellor of the American DioceseMark Templet*Saint Andrew the First Called Orthodox Parish, Fredericksburg, VA Virginia - Archpriest Fotios Roseboro
==Sources and external links==
 ===Official websitesExternal Links===
*[http://www.rpac.ru/ Official Russian website]
*[http://www.roacusa.org/ Official American Diocese website]
 
===Pro-ROAC===
*[http://www.roacusa.org/ABTheoRespEng.html Archbishop Theodore of Borisovskoye and Otradna, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC), Responds to Various Questions from the Faithful]
*[http://www.roacusa.org/25.html The History of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church]
*[http://roacusa.org/1.html The Free Russian Orthodox Church: A Short History], by Vladimir Moss
===Anti-ROACCriticism===*[http://pageswww.prodigysaintjonah.netorg/frjohnwhiteford/RTOC.htm The "Russian True Orthodox Church", by Fr. Michael Protopopov]*[http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhitefordarticles/voicesofreason.htm Voices of Reason: Responses to schismatics who have left ROCOR, and to those attempting to cause a new schism] *[http://pageswww.prodigysaintjonah.netorg/frjohnwhitefordarticles/voicesofreason_old.htm Older Voices of Reason Articles, including responses to Vladimir Moss, and posts regarding "Metropolitan" Valentine of Suzdal]
[[Category:Old Calendarist Jurisdictions]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]
 
[[fr:Église orthodoxe russe autonome]]

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