Key Documents of ROCOR

A reference guide to the major synodal decrees, epistles, and position papers that have defined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. These documents articulate ROCOR’s self-understanding, its theological positions, and its relationship to other Orthodox bodies.

Tradition: ROCOR-specific

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

Although not a ROCOR document per se, Ukaz No. 362 is the foundational canonical basis for ROCOR’s existence. Issued by Patriarch Tikhon and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, it decreed that in the event that the central church administration ceased to function (due to the conditions of revolution and civil war), diocesan bishops were to organize themselves into autonomous groups and govern their dioceses independently until normal church governance was restored.

Key provisions:

Dioceses cut off from the Higher Church Administration or from the dioceses whose Higher Church Administration had ceased to function were to contact bishops of neighboring dioceses for the purpose of organizing a higher ecclesiastical authority.
If this too proved impossible, the diocesan bishop was to assume upon himself the full authority of ecclesiastical governance.
These measures were understood as temporary, until the restoration of normal church governance.

ROCOR cited this ukaz as canonical authorization for its independent existence throughout the Soviet period. Critics argued that the ukaz’s temporary nature meant it should have been considered fulfilled once the Moscow Patriarchate resumed functioning. (Patriarch Tikhon, Ukaz No. 362, November 7/20, 1920)

The Karlovci Sobor Decisions (November 1921)

The first All-Diaspora Church Sobor (Council) met in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia, from November 21 to December 2, 1921 (New Style; November 8-19, Old Style). Key resolutions included:

Ecclesial organization: Establishment of the Supreme Church Administration Abroad under Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galicia.
Political declaration: A controversial appeal calling for the restoration of the Romanov dynasty to the Russian throne. This political declaration drew criticism from Patriarch Tikhon and other Russian hierarchs who argued that the Church should not make political pronouncements, and it contributed to early tensions within the emigration.
Appeal to the Genoa Conference: A message to the upcoming international conference at Genoa (1922) calling attention to the persecution of the Church in Soviet Russia.
Spiritual message to the diaspora: An appeal to Russian Orthodox faithful abroad to preserve their faith and church life.

The political declarations of the Karlovci Sobor became a lasting point of contention. Patriarch Tikhon formally dissolved the Supreme Church Administration Abroad by Decree No. 348 (349) of April 22/May 5, 1922, which declared the Sobor’s political pronouncements to lack canonical significance and entrusted the parishes abroad to Metropolitan Evlogii, though ROCOR disputed the voluntariness of this action, attributing it to Soviet pressure. (Acts of the All-Diaspora Church Sobor, Sremski Karlovci, 1921; Patriarch Tikhon, Decree No. 348 [349], April 22/May 5, 1922, trans. ROCOR Studies)

The 1927 Response to Metropolitan Sergius’s Declaration

Following Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky’s) Declaration of Loyalty to the Soviet government on July 16/29, 1927, ROCOR formally rejected the Declaration and broke communion with the Moscow Patriarchate under Sergius’s leadership. The ROCOR Synod declared that the Moscow Patriarchate, by submitting to Soviet authority, had lost its freedom and could not legitimately govern the Church.

This rupture defined ROCOR’s identity for the next eight decades. (See The Sergianist Controversy)

The 1983 Anathema Against Ecumenism

At its Council of Bishops, meeting in August 1983 in Mansonville, Quebec, ROCOR added an anathema against ecumenism to the Rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (served on the First Sunday of Great Lent). In the standard English translation, the text reads:

“Those who attack the Church of Christ by teaching that Christ’s Church is divided into so-called ‘branches’ which differ in doctrine and way of life, or that the Church does not exist visibly, but will be formed in the future when all ‘branches’ or sects or denominations, and even religions will be united into one body; and who do not distinguish the priesthood and mysteries of the Church from those of the heretics, but say that the baptism and eucharist of heretics is effectual for salvation; therefore, to those who knowingly have communion with these aforementioned heretics or who advocate, disseminate, or defend their new heresy of Ecumenism under the pretext of brotherly love or the supposed unification of separated Christians, Anathema!” (English text as printed in Orthodox Life, vol. 33, no. 6, 1983; reproduced at orthodoxinfo.com)

This anathema was one of ROCOR’s most significant theological statements and remains a point of distinctiveness. (See Anti-Ecumenism)

(ROCOR Council of Bishops, Anathema Against Ecumenism, 1983)

The 1981 Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors

At its Council of Bishops in 1981, ROCOR canonized a host of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia who suffered under the Soviet regime, including:

The Royal Martyrs: Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexei, and the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia
Patriarch Tikhon, included by name in the 1981 ROCOR act; the Moscow Patriarchate glorified him separately at its Bishops’ Council of October 9, 1989
Hundreds of bishops, clergy, monastics, and laity who were martyred for the faith

This was a landmark act, performed at the Council of Bishops in New York on October 19/November 1, 1981, nearly two decades before the Moscow Patriarchate’s own glorification in 2000. (See Glorification of the New Martyrs)

(ROCOR Council of Bishops, Act of Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, October 19/November 1, 1981; Eastern American Diocese, “The Canonization of the New Martyrs … in 1981 – How It Happened,” eadiocese.org)

The 2000 Jubilee Sobor of the Moscow Patriarchate

While not a ROCOR document, the Moscow Patriarchate’s Jubilee Bishops’ Council of 2000 was of enormous significance for ROCOR. Moscow canonized the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, including the Royal Family (as passion-bearers), and adopted the document The Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, which included a section affirming the Church’s right to resist the state when the state compels the Church to act against its conscience. These actions addressed key ROCOR concerns and opened the path to reunion.

(Moscow Patriarchate, Jubilee Bishops’ Council Documents, 2000)

The Act of Canonical Communion (May 17, 2007)

Signed on the Feast of the Ascension, May 17, 2007, in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, this document restored full communion between ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate. Key provisions:

ROCOR “remains an indissoluble, self-governing part of the Local Russian Orthodox Church” (Act, §1), “independent in pastoral, educational, administrative, management, property, and civil matters” (Act, §2).
ROCOR retains its own Council of Bishops and Synod of Bishops, which govern the Church’s internal affairs.
The name of the Patriarch of Moscow is commemorated in ROCOR services, before that of ROCOR’s First Hierarch.
ROCOR’s First Hierarch is elected by its Council of Bishops and confirmed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (Act, §4).
ROCOR retains its parishes and properties.

(Official English text at synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enmat_akt.html)

Signed by Metropolitan Laurus (Shkurla) of ROCOR and Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow. (See The 2007 Reunion)

(Act of Canonical Communion, May 17, 2007)

Epistles of the ROCOR Synod

Throughout its history, ROCOR’s Synod of Bishops has issued pastoral epistles on various occasions:

Paschal and Nativity Epistles: Annual messages to the faithful, often addressing current events and spiritual themes.
Metropolitan Philaret’s “Sorrowful Epistles”: A series of open letters in the 1960s-1970s addressing the state of world Orthodoxy, criticizing ecumenism and compromise with secularism. These were influential in defining ROCOR’s theological identity.
Epistles on the reunion process: Various statements during the 2003-2007 dialogue with Moscow.
Epistles on contemporary issues: Statements on bioethics, social questions, and church discipline.

(Various ROCOR Synodal documents; Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky), Sorrowful Epistles)

References

Patriarch Tikhon. Ukaz No. 362. November 7/20, 1920.
Patriarch Tikhon. Decree No. 348 (349). April 22/May 5, 1922. Trans. ROCOR Studies, 2024.
Acts of the All-Diaspora Church Sobor. Sremski Karlovci, November 21-December 2, 1921 (N.S.).
ROCOR Council of Bishops. Anathema Against Ecumenism. Mansonville, Quebec, August 1983. English text in Orthodox Life, vol. 33, no. 6, 1983.
ROCOR Council of Bishops. Act of Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. New York, October 19/November 1, 1981.
Act of Canonical Communion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia with the Moscow Patriarchate. May 17, 2007. Official English text: https://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enmat_akt.html
Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky). Sorrowful Epistles. Various dates.
Moscow Patriarchate. Jubilee Bishops’ Council Documents. 2000.
Moscow Patriarchate. The Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church. 2000.