Formation of ROCOR and the Karlovci Sobor

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was born out of the catastrophe of the Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917-1922), which drove millions of Russians into exile. Authorized by Patriarch Tikhon’s Ukaz No. 362 and organized at the Karlovci Sobor of 1921, the exiled bishops established an ecclesiastical structure that would endure for over a century.

Tradition: ROCOR-specific

Historical Context: Revolution, Civil War, and Emigration

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War (1918-1922) devastated the Russian Orthodox Church. The Bolsheviks, committed to militant atheism, launched an immediate campaign of persecution:

Churches and monasteries were seized, desecrated, or destroyed.
Church property was confiscated under the decree on the separation of Church and State (January 23, 1918).
Clergy and faithful were arrested, imprisoned, and executed in large numbers.
The All-Russian Church Council (Sobor) of 1917-1918, which had restored the Patriarchate and elected Patriarch Tikhon, was forcibly dissolved.

As the White armies retreated, massive waves of emigration carried an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Russians abroad. Among them were numerous bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, theologians, and lay faithful. Major destinations included Constantinople, the Balkans (especially the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes), Western Europe (France, Germany), China (Harbin, Shanghai), and eventually North and South America.

Patriarch Tikhon’s Ukaz No. 362 (November 7/20, 1920)

On November 7/20, 1920, Patriarch Tikhon, along with the Holy Synod and the Higher Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, issued Ukaz (Decree) No. 362. This was a prescient act of emergency governance, issued as the Civil War raged and the Bolsheviks consolidated power.

The ukaz addressed the situation of dioceses that might find themselves cut off from the central church administration. Its key provisions:

If the Holy Synod and the Higher Church Council cease to function, the diocesan bishop is to govern his diocese independently, relying on his own judgment and the counsel of his diocesan council.
If a diocese is cut off from the central administration due to military operations, border changes, or similar circumstances, the bishops of such dioceses are to organize among themselves and form a temporary higher church authority for their region.
These measures are temporary, pending the restoration of normal relations with the central church authority.

The ukaz did not specifically authorize the creation of a permanent church body abroad. ROCOR interpreted it as providing the canonical basis for an autonomous church governance structure in emigration that would persist as long as the Moscow Patriarchate remained under Soviet control. Others – including eventually the Moscow Patriarchate itself – argued that the temporary authorization lapsed once central church governance was restored. (Patriarch Tikhon, Ukaz No. 362, November 7/20, 1920)

The Gathering of Refugee Bishops

As the White forces evacuated Crimea in November 1920, a large number of Russian bishops found themselves in Constantinople. General Pyotr Wrangel’s fleet carried not only soldiers and civilians but also hierarchs of the Russian Church, including Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev, who had been a candidate for the Patriarchate in 1917.

In Constantinople, the refugee bishops formed a Provisional Higher Church Administration Abroad (Vysshee Tserkovnoe Upravlenie Zagranitsei, or VTsUZ) in November 1920, under Metropolitan Antony’s leadership. The Ecumenical Patriarchate and local Greek authorities initially provided some support, but the situation in Constantinople was unstable.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, under Patriarch Dimitrije (Pavlovic), offered hospitality to the Russian church structures. Metropolitan Antony and the Higher Church Administration relocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), settling in Sremski Karlovci, a historic town in Vojvodina that was the seat of the former Serbian Patriarchate of Karlovci. (Kosik, V.I., Russkaia Tserkov’ v Iugoslavii (20-40-e gg. XX veka) [The Russian Church in Yugoslavia, 1920s-1940s], Moscow: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Institute, 2000)

The Karlovci Sobor (November-December 1921)

The first All-Diaspora Church Sobor (Council) convened in Sremski Karlovci from November 21 to December 2, 1921 (New Style; November 8-19, Old Style). It was a remarkable gathering that brought together Russian Orthodox bishops, clergy, and laity from across the emigration. (Zernov, Nicholas, “The First Council of the Russian Church Abroad in Sremski Karlovtsi (21 Nov.-2 Dec. 1921): The Notes of One of the Participants,” repr. ROCOR Studies, 2016)

Participants

The Sobor included:

Thirteen bishops actually present, of sixteen registered in the official list of participants (Seide, Geschichte der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche im Ausland, pt. I, ch. 3)
Twenty-three priests present (thirty-three registered), with other clergy participating by correspondence
Lay delegates from Russian emigre communities across Europe and beyond (sixty-seven present of 106 registered)
Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) presided

Key Decisions and Declarations

1. Ecclesiastical Organization

The Sobor formalized the Supreme Church Administration Abroad (Vysshee Tserkovnoe Upravlenie Zagranitsei) under Metropolitan Antony, establishing it as the governing body of the Russian Orthodox diaspora. This became the institutional nucleus of what would be known as the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

2. The Political Declaration on the Romanov Dynasty

The most controversial act of the Sobor was the adoption of a resolution calling for the restoration of the Romanov dynasty to the Russian throne. This political declaration stated that only a lawful Orthodox tsar, from the House of Romanov, could restore Russia. The resolution was not unanimous; a significant minority of delegates objected on the grounds that the Church should not make political pronouncements.

This declaration had far-reaching consequences:

By Decree No. 348 (349) of April 22/May 5, 1922, Patriarch Tikhon, in joint session with the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council, declared that the Karlovci encyclical on the Romanov dynasty and the address to the Genoa Conference were “documents of a political nature” that did “not reflect the official voice of the Russian Orthodox Church” and lacked ecclesiastical-canonical significance; the decree ordered the Supreme Church Administration Abroad abolished, temporarily entrusting the governance of the parishes abroad to Metropolitan Evlogii (Georgievsky). (Decree 348 (349) of Patriarch Tikhon and the Joint Session of the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council, trans. ROCOR Studies, 2024)
The declaration contributed to the perception (especially in Soviet propaganda) that ROCOR was a “White Guard” political organization rather than a purely ecclesiastical body.
It created divisions within the emigration between monarchist and more politically moderate factions.

3. Appeal Regarding the Persecution of the Church

The Sobor issued an appeal to the upcoming international conference at Genoa (1922) and to the world at large, calling attention to the Bolshevik persecution of the Church and the Russian people.

4. Spiritual and Pastoral Messages

The Sobor addressed the spiritual needs of the emigration, calling the faithful to preserve their Orthodox faith and church life in the difficult conditions of exile.

Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) as First Head

Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky, 1863-1936) was the first and most prominent leader of the Russian Church Abroad. Born Alexei Pavlovich Khrapovitsky, he was one of the most distinguished hierarchs of pre-revolutionary Russia:

A noted theologian and church leader, he was elected Metropolitan of Kiev in 1918.
He was one of three candidates for the Patriarchate at the 1917-1918 All-Russian Sobor (receiving the most votes in the initial ballot, though the final selection was by lot, which fell to Tikhon).
A strong proponent of monarchism and Russian Orthodox nationalism.
He led the church administration in exile from 1921 until his death in 1936.

Metropolitan Antony’s theological legacy includes works on pastoral theology and dogmatic theology, notably his controversial “moral” theory of the Atonement set out in The Dogma of Redemption (1917). The work was sharply criticized on patristic grounds, most notably by Archbishop Theophan of Poltava, who compiled patristic testimony against it, and the dispute over the work (and Antony’s related catechism) continued for decades within and beyond ROCOR without a conciliar condemnation of its author. (Britannica, s.v. “Concerning the Dogma of Redemption”; The Dogma of Redemption: Atonement or Theosis, 2017)

He was succeeded as head of ROCOR by Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky, 1873-1965), who led the Church through the upheavals of World War II and the subsequent relocation to North America. (Khrapovitsky, Metropolitan Antony, The Dogma of Redemption, English trans. first publ. as “The Dogma of Redemption,” The Constructive Quarterly, 1919; Seide, Geschichte der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche im Ausland)

Relationship with the Serbian Orthodox Church

The Serbian Orthodox Church played an indispensable role in ROCOR’s early history. The Serbs, who regarded Russia as a historic protector and fellow Orthodox Slavic nation, offered extraordinary hospitality:

The Serbian Patriarchate provided the Karlovci complex as a headquarters for the Russian Church Abroad.
Serbian parishes and monasteries hosted Russian clergy and faithful.
The theological schools of Serbia (particularly in Belgrade) educated a generation of Russian theological students.
The relationship was one of genuine ecclesiastical fraternity, rooted in shared Slavic and Orthodox identity.

This hospitality continued until World War II, when the German invasion of Yugoslavia and the subsequent Communist takeover under Tito made it impossible for ROCOR to maintain its headquarters there. The center of gravity shifted westward and eventually to North America. (Slijepčević, Đoko, Istorija Srpske pravoslavne crkve [History of the Serbian Orthodox Church], vol. 3, Munich: Iskra, 1986)

Early Organizational Structure

The early structure of ROCOR consisted of:

The Synod of Bishops: The supreme governing body, headed by the Metropolitan.
The Higher Church Administration Abroad: An administrative organ handling day-to-day governance.
Dioceses: Organized by geography as the emigration spread across the globe.
Parishes: Local congregations, often organized around national or cultural communities, sometimes sharing facilities with host Orthodox churches.

The early period was marked by institutional fluidity, as the emigration was itself in flux. Parishes were established, moved, and sometimes dissolved as emigre communities shifted. The institutional stabilization of ROCOR as a permanent church structure was a gradual process that would unfold over the subsequent decades.

References

Patriarch Tikhon. Ukaz No. 362. November 7/20, 1920.
Acts of the All-Diaspora Church Sobor. Sremski Karlovci, 1921.
Decree 348 (349) of Patriarch Tikhon and the Joint Session of the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council, Addressed to Metropolitan Anthony, President of the Supreme Church Administration Abroad. April 22/May 5, 1922. English trans.: ROCOR Studies, September 1, 2024. https://www.rocorstudies.org/2024/09/01/decree-348-349-of-patriarch-tikhon-and-the-joint-session-of-the-holy-synod-and-the-supreme-church-council-addressed-to-metropolitan-anthony-president-of-the-supreme-church-administration-abroad/
Zernov, Nicholas. “The First Council of the Russian Church Abroad in Sremski Karlovtsi (21 Nov.-2 Dec. 1921): The Notes of One of the Participants.” Repr. ROCOR Studies, March 9, 2016. https://www.rocorstudies.org/2016/03/09/nicholas-zernov-the-first-council-of-the-russian-church-abroad-in-sremski-karlovtsi/
Kosik, V.I. Russkaia Tserkov’ v Iugoslavii (20-40-e gg. XX veka) [The Russian Church in Yugoslavia, 1920s-1940s]. Moscow: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Institute, 2000.
Seide, Georg. Geschichte der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche im Ausland von der Gründung bis in die Gegenwart. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1983. (English trans. serialized as History of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, ROCOR Studies, 2020.)
Slijepčević, Đoko. Istorija Srpske pravoslavne crkve [History of the Serbian Orthodox Church]. Vol. 3: Za vreme Drugog svetskog rata i posle njega. Munich: Iskra, 1986.
Khrapovitsky, Metropolitan Antony. “The Dogma of Redemption” (1917). English trans. in The Constructive Quarterly (1919); repr. in The Dogma of Redemption: Atonement or Theosis, with H. Anstall, M. Azkoul, and G. Grabbe, 2017.
Struve, Nikita. Christians in Contemporary Russia. Harvill Press, 1967.