Eastern Orthodox Church

==== Moscow–Constantinople schisms ====
=====1996=====
{{main|1996 Moscow–Constantinople schism}}
Since 1923, the [[Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church of Estonia]] separated from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] due to the imprisonment of [[Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow]], and the church in the [[Republic of Estonia]] falling out of communication with the Russian Church. They petitioned to be placed under direct control of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]], operating as an autonomous church. In 1944 the [[Soviet Union]] annexed Estonia and outlawed the Orthodox Church of Estonia, forcefully bringing their churches back under the control of the Moscow Patriarch. However, the church's Primate, Metropolitan Aleksander, fled to [[Sweden]] with 21 clergymen and 8,000 followers and established a synod there operating there throughout the [[Cold War]].<ref name="Toom">Toom, Tarmo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JmFetR5Wqd8C&dq=The%20encyclopedia%20of%20Eastern%20Orthodox%20Christianity&pg=PA226 "Estonia, Orthodox Church in"], ''The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity'', p.226-8, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2011.</ref>

In 1993, the synod of the Orthodox Church of Estonia in Exile was re-registered and on 20 February 1996, [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople]] restored the church's position as subordinate to Constantinople, not Moscow. [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow]], who had been born in Estonia, rejected this loss of territory, and severed ties with Patriarch Bartholomew on February 23, removing his name from the diptychs. The two sides would then negotiate in [[Zürich]], and a settlement was reached on 16 May 1996. In it, the ethnically Estonian population of Estonia would be under the jurisdiction of the [[Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church]], while the ethnically Russian population of Estonia would be under the jurisdiction of the [[Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate]]. After signing the document the Russian Church restored communion with the Orthodox Church.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church 8 November 2000: Russian Orthodox Church.|date=12 November 2000|website=Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-01|quote=Patriarch Bartholomew issued an 'Act' on 20 February 1996 on the renewal of the 1923 Tomos of Patriarch Meletius IV and on the establishment of the 'Autonomous Orthodox Estonian Metropolia' on the territory of Estonia. Temporal administration was entrusted to Archbishop John of Karelia and All Finland. A schismatic group headed by the suspended clergymen was accepted into canonical communion. Thus the schism in Estonia became a reality.<br /><br />On 23 February 1996, in response to the one-sided and illegal actions of Patriarch Bartholomew the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to recognise them 'as schismatic and compelling our Church to suspend canonical and Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople… and to omit the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the diptych of the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches.'|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143211/https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/}}</ref><ref name=":1"/>

=====2018=====
{{main|2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism}}
Since the [[Baptism of Rus']]{{efn|[[Rus' (region)|Rus']] is a region inhabited by [[East Slavs]] who were once ruled by princes from the [[Rurik dynasty]]. This term refers to the [[Middle Ages]], in contrast to the more recent (15th century) term "Russia". See also: [[Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia]].|name=|group=note}} in 867 the Orthodox church in Ukraine was led by the [[Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus']] who was subordinate to the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] and was largely governed by the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] since the territory was conquered in the [[Galicia–Volhynia Wars]], ending in 1392. Poland-Lithuania lost the territory to Russia as part of the peace deal of the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Great Northern War]] in 1654. In 1686 [[Dionysius IV of Constantinople]] transferred the territory to the [[Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus']]. In 1924, Orthodox churches in Ukraine besides the Metropolitan of Kyiv were placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Polish Orthodox Church]] by the Ecumenical Patriarch as an autonomous church, however, the Russian Church never agreed to nor recognised this transfer, mostly due to [[Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow]] and most of the Russian Church's leaders being imprisoned by Soviet officials.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shubin|first=Daniel|year=2004|title=A History of Russian Christianity. Volume I: From the Earliest Years Through Tsar Ivan IV|location=New York|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-289-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rowell|first=S.&nbsp;C.|year=1994|title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345|series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series|volume=25|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-45011-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sysyn|first=Frank E.|author-link=Frank Sysyn|year=1991|chapter=The Formation of Modern Ukrainian Religious Culture: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries|editor-last=Hosking|editor-first=Geoffrey|editor-link=Geoffrey Hosking|title=Church, Nation and State in Russia and Ukraine|location=Basingstoke, England|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=1–22|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-21566-9|isbn=978-1-349-21566-9}}</ref> The [[Soviet Union]], initially, had a policy of repression against the Orthodox Church, regardless of its denomination. However, after the start of the [[Operation Barbarossa|Nazi Invasion of the Soviet Union]], [[Joseph Stalin]] transformed the Russian Church into a propaganda tool to intensify patriotic support for the war effort. Following Soviet victory in the war, various autonomous and Independent Orthodox churches around eastern Europe were forcefully integrated or reintegrated into the Russian Church, including the church in Ukraine. Many of the church's leaders at this time were installed and closely monitored by the [[NKVD]] to ensure the church's support for the Soviet Union.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Alekseev, Valery. [http://www.ipc.od.ua/14spravka.html Historical and canonical reference for reasons making believers leave the Moscow patriarchate]. Created for the government of [[Moldova]]
 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129175211/http://www.ipc.od.ua/14spravka.html |date=29 November 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://espreso.tv/news/2017/12/10/moskovskyy_patriarkhat_stvoryuvaly_agenty_nkvs_svidchat_rozskerecheni_sbu_dokumenty |title = Московський патріархат створювали агенти НКВС, – свідчать розсекречені СБУ документи |website = espreso.tv }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.znak.com/2017-12-10/sbu_rassekretila_arhivy_moskovskogo_patriarha_v_1945_godu_izbirali_agenty_nkgb|last=ZNAK|title=СБУ рассекретила архивы: московского патриарха в 1945 году избирали агенты НКГБ|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=11 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211003534/https://www.znak.com/2017-12-10/sbu_rassekretila_arhivy_moskovskogo_patriarha_v_1945_godu_izbirali_agenty_nkgb|url-status=dead}}</ref>

This situation led to the rise of rival, anti-Russian and anti-Soviet churches within Ukraine, including the [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] (UAOC), founded in 1917 which declared itself the restored autonomous church that existed prior to 1686 but had been eradicated within Soviet Ukraine by the 1930s. The church was largely supported by Ukrainian émigrés and diaspora, and was restored as a legally recognised church by the Ukrainian government in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/state/national_religious_question/73918/|title=Metropolitan Epifaniy (Dumenko) becomes Primate of One Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|date=15 December 2018}}</ref> In 1992, the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate]] (UOC-KP) came into existence, being founded by members of the Russian Church [[Defrocking|defrocked]] for insubordination, alongside support with the Ukrainian émigré community. The church submitted a request for Ukrainian autocephaly at its founding synod in Kyiv in 1992.<ref>[https://www.cerkva.info/pages/statut СТАТУТ ПРО УПРАВЛІННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЇ ЦЕРКВИ КИЇВСЬКОГО ПАТРІАРХАТУ] See Chapter I, § 1 and 7.</ref><ref>[http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/221781 After autocephaly], [[The Ukrainian Week]] (26 October 2018)<br />{{in lang|uk}} [https://m.gazeta.ua/articles/life/_vselenskij-patriarhat-oprilyudniv-dokumenti-na-pidtrimku-ukrayinskoyi-avtokefaliyi/859088 The Ecumenical Patriarchate unveiled documents in support of Ukrainian autocephaly], [[Gazeta.ua]] (14 September 2018).</ref> These churches were competing with the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] (UOC-MP), the Russian Church in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy War: The Fight for Ukraine's Churches and Monasteries|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/89496|date=11 April 2023|access-date=27 April 2023|website=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]]|language=English}}</ref><ref>Yearbook of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Year 2022, pp. 1007–1026.</ref>

On 11 October 2018, the [[Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] revoked the Russian Church's letter of issue, allowing them to ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv, re-established a [[wiktionary:stauropegion|stauropegion]] in Kyiv, and lifted the Russian Church's excommunication of members of the UAOC and the UOC-KP. In response, on 15 October, the [[Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church]] severed all ties with the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] and barred all members of the Russian Church from receiving communion or sacraments from any churches with ties to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2018/10/15/news165263/|title=Statement by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the Russian Church|date=15 October 2018|publisher=Russian Orthodox Church|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-16|quote=To admit into communion schismatics and a person anathematized in other Local Church with all the 'bishops' and 'clergy' consecrated by him, the encroachment on somebody else's canonical regions, the attempt to abandon its own historical decisions and commitments – all this leads the Patriarchate of Constantinople beyond the canonical space and, to our great grief, makes it impossible for us to continue the Eucharistic community with its hierarch, clergy and laity. From now on until the Patriarchate of Constantinople's rejection of its anti-canonical decisions, it is impossible for all the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church to concelebrate with the clergy of the Church of Constantinople and for the laity to participate in sacraments administered in its churches.|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502133723/https://mospat.ru/en/2018/10/15/news165263/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/ru/2018/10/16/news165283/|title=Журналы заседания Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви от 15 октября 2018 года |publisher=Russian Orthodox Church|date=16 October 2018|language=ru-RU|trans-title=MINUTES of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 15 October 2018|access-date=16 July 2019|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031065636/https://mospat.ru/ru/2018/10/16/news165283/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 December 2018, the UAOC and UOC-KP voted to merge in the [[Unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine]], forming the restored [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]], with [[Epiphanius I of Ukraine]], of the UOC-KP, becoming the first primate of the unified church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/bishop-epiphaniy-dumenko-elected-primate-of-the-orthodox-church-in-ukraine/|last=Jivko Panev|title=Bishop Epiphaniy (Dumenko) elected Primate of the "Orthodox Church in Ukraine"|date=15 December 2018|website=Orthodoxie|language=en-US|access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref> On 5 January 2019, Bartholomew I signed the official [[Tomos (Eastern Orthodox Church)|tomos]] that granted [[autocephaly]] to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/ocu/74190/|title=Ukraine receives Tomos officially and forever|date=6 January 2019|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-date=8 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108031645/https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/ocu/74190/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to severing ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Russian Church has also severed communion with Archbishop [[Ieronymos II of Athens]] primate of the [[Church of Greece]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/10/17/news178948/|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church {{!}} The Russian Orthodox Church|date=17 October 2019|website=Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-19|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080401/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/10/17/news178948/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/77486/|title=ROC Synod disbelieves entire Greek Church could recognize OCU and called not to remember Archbishop Hieronymos for his communion with Epifaniy|date=17 October 2019|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|access-date=19 October 2019|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080351/https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/77486/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/statement-of-the-holy-synod-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/|last=Jivko Panev|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church|date=17 October 2019|website=Orthodoxie|language=en-US|access-date=19 October 2019|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080117/https://orthodoxie.com/en/statement-of-the-holy-synod-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria|Patriarch Theodore II]] [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|of Alexandria]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://religionpravda.com.ua/2019/12/26/РПЦ-розірвала-відносини-з-Олександрі/|last=Religion Pravda|title=РПЦ розірвала відносини з Олександрійським Патріархом і вдерлась на його канонічну територію – рішення Синоду|date=2019-12-26|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814082456/http://religionpravda.com.ua/2019/12/26/%D0%A0%D0%9F%D0%A6-%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B7%D1%96%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%B7-%D0%9E%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%96/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15416|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases liturgical commemoration of patriarch of Alexandria for recognizing new church of Ukraine|date=26 December 2019|website=Interfax Religion|access-date=26 December 2019|archive-date=17 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117004431/http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15416|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=74025|last=Interfax Religion|title=Патриарх Кирилл прекращает поминовение Александрийского патриарха из-за признания им ПЦУ|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226161350/http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=74025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/12/26/news181656/|title=Holy Synod of the Russian Church expresses its deep sorrow over uncanonical actions of Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria who entered into communion with schismatics {{!}} The Russian Orthodox Church|date=26 December 2019|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-27|archive-date=27 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227134626/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/12/26/news181656/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Archbishop [[Chrysostomos II of Cyprus|Chrysostomos II]] of [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода от 20 ноября 2020 года / Официальные документы / Патриархия.ru|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5721952.html|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Патриархия.ru|language=ru|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128143940/http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5721952.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases commemoration of Archbishop of Cyprus|url=https://orthochristian.com/135494.html|access-date=20 November 2020|website=Orthodox Christianity|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120143152/https://orthochristian.com/135494.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=20 November 2020|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases liturgical commemoration of archbishop of Cyprus for backing schism in Ukraine|url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15995|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Interfax-Religion|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120155606/http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15995|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-24|title=Archbishop of Cyprus commemorates Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv for first time (upd)|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-commemorates-metropolitan-epifaniy-of-kyiv-for-first-time/|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Orthodox Times|language=en-US|archive-date=23 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123184817/https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-commemorates-metropolitan-epifaniy-of-kyiv-for-first-time/|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to the severing of ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the [[Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe]] (AROCWE), voted to dissolve itself, although the vote failed, it resulted in a split in AROCWE, with several churches leaving to form the "Vicariate of Russian Tradition of the Metropolis of France", while {{Interlanguage link|John (Renneteau)|lt=John (Renneteau)|ru|Иоанн (Реннето)|WD=}}, head of the AROCWE, personally joined the Russian Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/09/14/news177560/|title=The Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod integrates the head of the Archdiocese of the Western European Parishes of Russian Tradition as well as clergy and parishes who wish to follow him|date=14 September 2019|website=Russian Orthodox Church Department of External Relations|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915182943/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/09/14/news177560/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constantinople bishop of France creates Russian Vicariate in place of Russian Exarchate that Synod dissolved |url=http://orthochristian.com/126060.html |website=Orthodox Christianity |date=3 December 2019 |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204072903/http://orthochristian.com/126060.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2018/11/28/its-official-ecumenical-patriarchate-dissolves-russian-archdiocese-of-western-europe/|title=IT'S OFFICIAL: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE DISSOLVES RUSSIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF WESTERN EUROPE|date=2018-11-28|work=ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE|access-date=2018-12-03|archive-date=3 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203143208/https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2018/11/28/its-official-ecumenical-patriarchate-dissolves-russian-archdiocese-of-western-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/25371-apokleistiko-to-oikoumeniko-patriarxeio-katirgise-tin-ejarxia-ton-koinotiton-rosikis-paradoseos|title=ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΟ: Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο κατήργησε την Εξαρχία των Κοινοτήτων Ρωσικής Παραδόσεως|date=27 November 2018|work=ROMFEA|access-date=2018-11-27|language=el-gr|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127193858/https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/25371-apokleistiko-to-oikoumeniko-patriarxeio-katirgise-tin-ejarxia-ton-koinotiton-rosikis-paradoseos|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/the-ecumenical-patriarchate-has-dissolved-the-archdiocese-of-russian-orthodox-churches-in-western-europe/|title=The Ecumenical Patriarchate has dissolved the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe|last=Jivko Panev|date=27 November 2018|website=Orthodoxie|access-date=27 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127233820/https://orthodoxie.com/en/the-ecumenical-patriarchate-has-dissolved-the-archdiocese-of-russian-orthodox-churches-in-western-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, during the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the UOC-MP severed all ties with the Russian Church.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-25 |title=Church of Ukraine: Stops commemoration of Kirill, asks to be deprived of the Patriarchal Throne |work=Orthodox Times |url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/church-of-ukraine-stops-commemoration-of-kirill-asks-to-be-deprived-of-the-patriarchal-throne/ |access-date=2022-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-27 |title=Resolution of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of May 27, 2022 |url=https://news.church.ua/2022/05/27/postanova-soboru-ukrajinskoji-pravoslavnoji-cerkvi-vid-27-travnya-2022-roku/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patrirachate) |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-27 |title=Ukraine's Moscow-backed Orthodox church says cuts ties with Russia |work=Alarabiya News |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/05/27/Ukraine-s-Moscow-backed-Orthodox-church-says-cuts-ties-with-Russia |access-date=2022-05-27}}</ref>