Russian True Orthodox Church (Lazar Zhurbenko)

Not to be confused with True Russian Orthodox Church.

The Russian True Orthodox Church (RTOC, Russian: Российская истинно православная церковь, РИПЦ), also called lazarites^[1] (after Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko)) or tikhonites (after Archbishop Tikhon (Pasechnik)),^[2][a] is an independent Russian Orthodox church professing True Orthodoxy. It was formed in 2002 by Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) and Bishop Benjamin (Rusalenko), the two hierarchs of ROCOR inside the territory of Russia, who refused the process of unification of the ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate; Lazar and Benjamin therefore joined the ROCOR (V) [ru] (a rival Church of the ROCOR), then left it thereafter and thus their Church became independent.

Russian True Orthodox Church
Cathedral Church of the RTOC in Odesa dedicated to St. John of Kronstadt
Abbreviation	RTOC
Type	Eastern Orthodox
Classification	Independent Eastern Orthodox
Orientation	True Orthodox
President of the Holy Synod	Archbishop Tikhon (Pasechnik)
Archbishops	2
Bishops	3
Possessions	Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, United States, United Kingdom, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Serbia
Origin	2002
Independence	2002
Recognition	Unrecognized by World Orthodox Churches – see True Orthodoxy
Other name(s)	Lazarites, Tikhonites
Official website	www.ripc.info

The RTOC has two Archbishops (Tikhon and Benjamin) and 3 Bishops (Filaret, Savvati and Germogen); the president of the Holy Synod is Archbishop Tikhon.^[3]

History

The RTOC was formed in 2002, when Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) and Bishop Benjamin (Rusalenko) ordained Bishop Tikhon (Pasechnik), Hermogen of Chernigov and Gomel, Bishop Irenaeus of Verniy (today Almaty) and Semirechiye and Bishop Dionysius of Novgorod and Tver. In 2003 they transformed their Hierarchical Forum into a Hierarchical Synod, the Russian True Orthodox Church. According to the RTOC, all this was in accordance with the Decree of Saint Patriarch Tikhon number 362, with their Second All-Russian Conference of clergy and laity, and had the blessing of Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov).^[4]

In 2011 the hierarchs of the RTOC have ordained hieromonk Akakije (Nemanja Stanković) as the bishop of the Serbian True Orthodox Church.^[5] In 2018 the bishops of the RTOC broke communion with the Serbian True Orthodox Church as Bishop Akakije took under his omophorion a large number of clergy that had no canonical leave from the hierarchs of the RTOC.^[6] Currently in Russia, the Russian True Orthodox Church has the following dioceses: Omsk-Siberia, Odesa-Kharkiv, Black Sea-Kuban, Chernihiv-Gomel, Novgorod-Tver, and Verney-Semirechiye (Kazakhstan).^[7]

Doctrine

The RTOC rejects Sergianism and holds that the sacraments of the Moscow Patriarchate (which they consider distinct from the Russian Orthodox Church that existed before the Bolshevik revolution) are anathema or invalid and ineffectual for salvation. The RTOC upholds in principle and emphasizes the ROCOR 1983 anathema against ecumenism,^[8] which is an anathema against the branch theory.^[9]

Notes

1. Not to be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church which was also called "tikhonites" by the Renovationist movement, after Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow.

References

1. "Vernost' Number 30". metanthonymemorial.org. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
2. Convent, Dormition Skete and Holy Apostles (2005-05-25). "True Orthodox Polemics". trueorthodoxy.org. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
3. "RTOC Episcopate".
4. "Letter of Metropolitan Vitaly about the recognition of the RTOC".
5. News, Nftu (2011-08-15). "RTOC Consecrates Bishop for TOC-Serbia". NFTU. Retrieved 2021-03-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
6. News, Nftu (2018-03-22). "RTOC Breaks Communion with STOC; Says Bishop Stefan of Trenton is Deposed". NFTU. Retrieved 2021-03-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
7. "RTOC Dioceses".
8. "Determination of the Sobor of Bishops of RTOC Concerning Dogmatic Questions Regarding the Sacraments of World Ecumenical Orthodoxy, the Ecclesiological Heresy of Cyprianism and the Anathematizing of the Heresy of Sergianism - True Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe".
9. "The ROCOR's Anathema Against Ecumenism (1983)". 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!