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][lower-alpha 1] 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.
Quick Facts Abbreviation, Type ...
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 |
---|
Close
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]