Official Record of Apostolic Succession of

Copying the example of Henry VIII of England, the government-imposed new Church constitution made The
Czar the Head of The Church of Russia. It went further than King Henry, however, by providing for a Lay
Procurator (a government official) to administer The Church's day-to-day affairs. This "constitutional"
subjugation of The Church to the Russian State established the precedent of direct governmental control
over and interference in all the affairs of The Russian Orthodox Church -- a practice continued until the end
of the 20 th century by the atheistical government of the U.S.S.R.
After the overthrow of Czar Nikolai II in March of AD 1917, The Russian Orthodox Church immediately
convened a national Sobor to reform The Church and revive the Patriarchate of Moscow, which Czar Peter
The Great had suspended. Metropolitan Tikhon, who had earlier been Russian Archbishop in America, won
the election and assumed the office of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in November of that year, almost
simultaneously with the outbreak of the Communist Revolution. This All-Russian Council (Sobor) attempted
to restore sobornost -- the active participation of the whole Church (bishops, clergy, and laity) in every
aspect of the Church's life, in contrast to the bureaucratic centralization which had ruled The Church under
the secular and often hostile government of Russia since the creation of The Holy Synod by Czar Peter The
Great.
The new reäctionary Communist government of Russia immediately placed severe restrictions upon the
revitalized and reforming Church of Russia. In view of the vigorous anti-religion activities of the new Russian
government, Patriarch Tikhon issued a statement in AD 1917 urging The Russian Faithful to act
independently to preserve The Church. Some of the Bishops of The Russian Church attempted to heed The
Patriarch's advice by establishing a separate independent Church administration in southeastern Russia.
The advance of the Bolsheviks, however, forced these faithful shepherds into exile.
In November of 1920 these refugee Bishops organized The Supreme Church Administration for
Churches Outside of Russia in Istanbul (Constantinople), with the approval of The Öcumenical Patriarch.
At the invitation of The Patriarch of Serbia, The Supreme Church Administration moved to Yugoslavia.
Twelve of these Bishops, with representatives of the clergy and laity, organized a Sobor at Sremski
Karlovtsi, Yugoslavia, on 21 November to 2 December 1921, under the presidency of Anthony Khrapovitski,
Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich and under the canonical authority of an ukase (i.e., an Edict having the force
of law) issued in AD 1920 by Patriarch Tikhon. The result of this meeting was the organization of The
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, sometimes called The Synodal Church.
Patriarch Tikhon, who vigorously opposed the inhumane and atheistic policies of the revolutionary regime,
was cruelly imprisoned on 9 May 1922. The Communists refused to permit an election for his successor
when he died in AD 1925. Metropolitan Petr of Krutica became Locum Tenes (Patriarchal Vicar), but he, too,
was almost immediately imprisoned. He was succeeded later that year by Sergii, the Metropolitan of Nizhni-
Novgorod, who tried to make peace with the new Soviet government. Although he suffered temporary
imprisonment (December AD 1926 to April 1927), he issued a declaration in July of AD 1927 changing The
Church's official stance towards the Communist government from one of hostility to one of praise and
coöperation. Outside observers have called this declaration of The Metropolitan either the great betrayal or
the great salvation of The Russian Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia naturally disapproved of the coöperation between the
Patriarchal Church and the atheistic Communist government in Russia, as first formulated in the letters
issued by Metropolitan (later Patriarch) Sergii in AD 1926 and AD 1927. Because of the inappropriate
influence seemingly exercised by the anti-religious government of Russia, The Russian Orthodox Church
Outside Russia refused to recognize The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in any way on the grounds
that the Communist government completely controlled the patriarchate.
With the invasion of Mother Russia by the Nazis (Russia's former ally in the partition of Poland at the
beginning of World War II), the political climate changed in Moscow. Metropolitan Sergii urged The Faithful
to sincerely support the Russian war effort against the Nazis; he issued calls to arms, organized fund raising
rallies, and did everything possible to ensure the protection of his people and the defense of The Church. By
1 October 1944 The Church had donated 150,000,000 rubles, as well as gifts "in kind," to the Communist
government. These many sacrifices and contributions for Russia gained him the favorable attention of the
then current Communist Dictator, Josef Stalin, who finally granted the Metropolitan's request for new
patriarchal elections. Sergii was elected Patriarch on 7 September 1943; he unfortunately died within six
months. After that The Kremlin permitted subsequent elections within a year of each vacancy and had made
The Orthodox Church of Russia one of the few officially recognized Christian organizations in the Soviet