Russian Orthodox Church

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The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches by number of adherents. The primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The history of the ROC begins with the Christianization of Kievan Rus', which commenced in 988 with the baptism of Vladimir the Great and his subjects by the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Starting in the 14th century, Moscow served as the primary residence of the Russian metropolitan. The ROC declared autocephaly in 1448 when it elected its own metropolitan without Constantinople's blessing. In 1589, the metropolitan see was elevated to a patriarchate with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century, liturgical reforms led to the Schism of the Russian Church, with opponents forming the Old Believers movement. In 1721, Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate and established the Most Holy...

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