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When we speak of the word canonicity we mean nothing other than that which is according to the rules (canons) of the Church. These commandments are binding on all Christians, especially the bishops who are sworn to uphold the canons and teachings of Christ. When a bishop or a Synod does not obey the canons they are considered renegades and lawless and this lawlessness will inevitably lead to heresy.
We say a church is canonical if it keeps or maintains two essential requirements.
+++ First a bishop must maintain at all times and continuously the teachings and traditions of the Orthodox Church. In other words, he must preach the Orthodox Faith which was once handed down to us by the holy Apostles, our predecessors in the Church.
+++ Secondly a bishop must have the continuous apostolic succession in his ordination. In other words, he must be part of the unbroken line of ordinations which can be traced back to the holy Apostles, and which have occurred only in the Church.
When a bishop does not keep the first requirement and teaches a heresy even though he is in the Church, if he is not corrected, he loses his Orthodox Faith, and he loses his canonicity. He is rightly labeled uncanonical or heretical. All heretics of course are by their very meaning, uncanonical. When this happens the Church puts an ‘Anathema’ on that teaching or on that preacher of heresy, (anathema means a complete cutting off from God and separation from the Church and consignment to the devil).
For example, the iconoclasts refused to accept the holy icons. The Church put an Anathema on these heretics by saying, “To those who accept Christ’s saving works but refuse to view those acts depicted in holy icons or to venerate them: Anathema.” Therefore, if any bishop is an iconoclast or any church is iconoclastic, it is uncanonical, and to unite oneself to them is spiritual suicide.
Another example is when the Church anathematized the Bogomils by saying, “To those who deny that the Logos and Son was begotten before time, and became incarnate of the Virgin Mary for our salvation: and those who believe the Eucharist to be only bread and wine and not truly the flesh and blood of the Savior: Anathema.” Again, therefore, if any bishop or church teaches that the Son of God was not begotten before time and did not become incarnate of the Virgin Mary or who does not believe that the Eucharist is the very body and blood of Christ, they are Anathema, and any person who is a member of this so called church, will find his membership to be spiritual suicide.
Now we come to the present time when the holy Church issued its Anathema against Ecumenism. In 1983 the Russian Church Abroad declared “To 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!”
This heresy of Ecumenism infected the Orthodox Church. The first official action of apostasy occurred in 1965, when Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople lifted the Anathema placed on the Roman Catholic Church in1054. From that time onwards, all the other local Orthodox Churches were forced to either reject this path by breaking communion with this false church, or accept this new direction by remaining in communion with it. We anathematized the Papal church for their heresy of the infallibility of the pope and his changing of the Creed and they anathematized us, the Orthodox, for not accepting their heresy. With the mutual lifting of these Anathemas the conclusion is that the two churches are again one church.
Is it difficult to understand why any Orthodox Christian who remains under allegiance to these newly appeared heretical hierarchs is committing spiritual suicide? These “hierarchs” are the ones who have become uncanonical and heretical. Does it matter if these hierarchs number two or three, or does it matter if these hierarchs number two or three hundred? It does not matter how many hierarchs espouse heresy. They are all under condemnation.
Archbishop Gregory is the only hierarch in the United States who has remained free of any communion or union with this heresy of Ecumenism who has valid apostolic succession. Therefore, he is considered to be truly canonical.
He was baptized at infancy in the Antiochian Church which was a canonical and grace filled Church at that time.
He left the Antiochian Church, 21 years later, because of their acceptance of Ecumenism in 1965 and joined the Russian Church Abroad which was a canonical and grace filled Church at that time.
He left the Russian Church Abroad, 30 years later, in 1995 because of their acceptance of Ecumenism through their union with the heretic Cyprian of Fili and joined the Greek Old Calendar Church which was a canonical and grace filled Church.
In the year 2000 he was released from the Greek Old Calendar Church to enter the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church which was led by bishops in Russia, ordained by the Russian Church Abroad, but who did not accept their Ecumenism and who separated from them because of it. These bishops remained faithful and were canonical and grace filled.
In 2001 he was made a bishop by these hierarchs. This establishes the line of canonicity for Archbishop Gregory. Ever since his consecration, Archbishop Gregory has been an upholder of the canons in all his dealings with the remaining true hierarchs of the Orthodox Church.
As far as maintaining the Orthodox Faith in America, again, Archbishop Gregory is the only hierarch in this country who has not succumbed to the heresy of Ecumenism either by espousing it or by being in communion with anyone who espouses it. It is because of his continuous desire to preserve his canonicity, that he had to, at times, abandon churches that had fallen prey to this, the greatest heresy of all times, Ecumenism.
The Archbishop has also been outspoken against schismatics who according to St. John Chrysostom are worse than heretics since they emulate the truth so closely and are therefore more deceptive. As may be expected, the schismatics have been even more vicious than the heretics of World Orthodoxy, in slandering the reputation of Archbishop Gregory. It is because of this that a comprehensive biography of the Archbishop’s life is necessary. We hope that this biography can be uploaded to our websites as each section is completed.
Although Archbishop Gregory has the reputation of being the strictest bishop in Orthodoxy, yet in reality he is just a normal Orthodox bishop, applying strictness when applicable and economia when necessary. His confession of Faith can be seen on the web sites, www.TrueOrthodoxy.org and www.TrueOrthodoxy.info. He is also known for his missionary activity. May God help and protect him for many years!
Archbishop Gregory is a hierarch of the true Russian Orthodox Church in the direct line of the great hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad. When the Ecumenical Movement officially started in 1965, it was St. Metropolitan Philaret and his Synod who first objected and then broke communion with the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate and all those in communion with it. The Greek Old Calendarists also were of the same mind and were in communion with the Russian Church Abroad (ROCA) up until ROCA’s union with the ecumenist, Met. Cyprian of Fili in 1994. After the fall of Russian communism, in 1991 the ROCA ordained bishops for Russia. Those Russian bishops consecrated Archbishop Gregory in Russia. He is also a missionary bishop, in that he finds himself not only responsible for the churches in America, but also has churches in Bulgaria, Italy, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. What follows below is a short chronology of the events to show the canonicity of Archbishop Gregory.
In 1986, Metropolitan Vitaly became the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad succeeding the saintly Metropolitan Philaret.
On February 10, 1991, in the church of St. Job the Much - Suffering in Brussels, Archimandrite Valentine was consecrated Bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir (Russia). The consecration was carried out by four bishops of the Russian Church Abroad (ROCA), among them Bishop Gregory Grabbe, who had for many years assisted the great first-hierarchs of the ROCA. More bishops were later consecrated for Russia.
In the year 1994, Metropolitan Vitaly, with his Synod, announced that they were accepting the ecclesiology and theology of the deposed heretical ecumenist, Met. Cyprian of Fili and therefore entered into communion with him. When this apostasy occurred, the Old Calendar Church of Greece broke communion with the Russian Church Abroad and about this time the bishops in Russia also severed communion with Metropolitan Vitaly. Archimandrite Gregory of Dormition Skete in Colorado also left the ROCA and joined the Old Calendar Church of Greece.
From 1994 to 2001, the bishops in Russia were united under the leadership of Archbishop Valentine. When their church was organized as the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC), they decreed that its head should hold the rank of Metropolitan.
On November 19/December 2, 2001, Archimandrite Gregory of Dormition Skete, in Colorado, having been released from the Old Calendar Church of Greece, was elected unanimously by the ROAC Synod of Bishops, and was ordained Bishop of Denver by Metropolitan Valentine, Archbishop Theodore, and Catacomb Bishop Anthony of Yaransk in the St. Constantine Cathedral, Suzdal, Russia. In 2002, Bishop Gregory was made ruling bishop of Denver and Colorado. In 2004, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop because of his great missionary work.
In 2004, Metropolitan Valentine, (after recuperating from a pentuple heart bypass surgery in Colorado), attempted to compel Archbishop Gregory to accept several canonical infractions - (1) that the Metropolitan has universal and supreme jurisdiction in all dioceses and he is above the canons; (2) the wrong opinion that some of the mysteries of heretics and schismatics are valid; (3) that Baptism in a canonical form is unnecessary for the Orthodox Church, on which basis Met. Valentine received 180 unbaptized Haitians into the ROAC; and (4) the uncanonical seizure by Met. Valentine of several of Archbishop Gregory’s clergy and monastics without Archbishop Gregory’s consent.
When Archbishop Gregory sent a petition to the Synod in Russia against these crimes, Met. Valentine took all matters in his own hands, and cut off Archbishop Gregory from any further contact with the bishops in Russia. No synod meeting was ever permitted to convene to hear the charges against Met. Valentine.
Because of these uncanonical events against Archbishop Gregory, he considers himself only in communion only with the true bishops of GOC of Greece...
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| 1. Andrew, the Apostle of our Lord (Founded the Church at Constantinople; ordained Stachys) | Founded 38 AD |
| 2. Stachys, the Disciple (one of the 70 Apostles) (First Bishop of Constantinople) | AD 38 – 54 |
| 3. Onesimos | AD 54 – 68 |
| 4. Polykarpos | AD 69 – 89 |
| 5. Ploutarchos | AD 89 – 105 |
| 6. Sedekion | AD 105 – 114 |
| 7. Diogenes | AD 114 – 129 |
| 8. Eleftherios | AD129 – 136 |
| 9. Felix | AD 136 – 141 |
| 10. Polykarpos II | AD 141 – 144 |
| 11. Athenodoros | AD 144 – 148 |
| 12. Euzoios | AD 148 – 154 |
| 13. Laurentios | AD 154 – 166 |
| 14. Alypios | AD 166 – 169 |
| 15. Pertinax | AD 169 – 187 |
| 16. Olympianos | AD 187 – 198 |
| 17. Markos I | AD 198 – 211 |
| 18. Philadelphos | AD 211 – 214 |
| 20. Kyriakos I | AD 214 – 230 |
| 21. Kastinos | AD 230 – 237 |
| 22. Eugenios I | AD 237 – 242 |
| 23. Titos | AD 242 – 272 |
| 24. Dometios | AD 272 – 303 |
| 25. Roufinos | AD 303 |
| 26. Provos | AD 303 – 315 |
| 27. Metrophanes I | AD 315 – 325 |
| 28. Alexandros | AD 325 – 340 |
| 29. Paulos I, the Confessor | AD 340 – 41, 342 – 34, 348 – 50 |
| 30. Eusebios | AD 341 – 342 |
| 31. Makedonios I | AD 344 – 348, 350 – 360 |
| 32. Eudoxios | AD 360 – 369 |
| 33. Demophilos | AD 369 – 379 |
| 34. Evagrios | AD 379 |
| 35. Maximos I, | AD 380 |
| 36. Gregory, the Theologian (First Archbishop of Constantinople) | AD 379 – 381 |
| 37. Nectarios | AD 381 – 397 |
| 38. John I, the Chrysostom | AD 398 – 404 |
| 39. Arsakios | AD 404 – 405 |
| 40. Attikos | AD 406 – 425 |
| 41. Sisinios I | AD 425 – 427 |
| 42. Nestorios | AD 428 – 431 |
| 43. Maximianos | AD 431 – 434 |
| 44. Proklos | AD 434 – 447 |
| 45. Flavianos | AD 447 – 449 |
| 46. Anatolios (First Patriarch of Constantinople) | AD 449 – 458 |
| 47. Gennadios I | AD 458 – 471 |
| 48. Akakios | AD 471 – 489 |
| 49. Favritas (Fravitas) | AD 489 – 490 |
| 50. Euphemios | AD 490 – 496 |
| 51. Makedonios II | AD 496 – 511 |
| 52. Timotheos I | AD 511 – 518 |
| 53. John II, the Cappadocian | AD 518 – 520 |
| 54. Epiphanios | AD 520 – 536 |
| 55. Anthimos | AD 535 – 536 |
| 56. Menas | AD 536 – 552 |
| 57. Eutychios I | AD 552 – 565, 577 – 582 |
| 58. John III | AD 566 – 577 |
| 59. Eutychios II | AD 577 – 582 |
| 60. John IV, the Faster | AD 582 – 595 |
| 61. Kyriakos II | AD 595 – 607 |
| 62. Thomas I | AD 607 – 610 |
| 63. Sergios I | AD 610 – 638 |
| 64. Pyrros I (later returned as Pyrros II) | AD 638 – 641 |
| 65. Paulos II | AD 641 – 652 |
| 66. Pyrros II ()same as Pyrros I) | AD 652 or 654 |
| 67. Petros | AD 652 – 664 |
| 68. Thomas II | AD 665 – 668 |
| 69. John V | AD 668 – 674 |
| 70. Constantine I | AD 674 – 676 |
| 71. Theodoros I | AD 676 – 678, 683 – 686 |
| 72. Georgios I | AD 678 – 683 |
| 73. Paulos III | AD 686 – 693 |
| 74. Kallinikos I | AD 693 – 705 |
| 75. Kyros | AD 705 – 711 |
| 76. John VI | AD 711 – 715 |
| 77. Germanos I, the Confessor | AD 715 – 730 |
| 78. Anastasios | AD 730 – 751 |
| 79. Constantine II | AD 754 – 766 |
| 80. Niketas, the Slav | AD 766 – 780 |
| 81. Paulos IV | AD 780 – 784 |
| 82. Tarasios | AD 784 – 806 |
| 83. Nikephoros I | AD 806 – 815 |
| 84. Theodotos, Melissenos | AD 815 – 821 |
| 85. Antonios I, Kasymatas | AD 821 – 826 |
| 86. John VII the Grammatikos | AD 826 – 842 |
| 87. Methodios I, the Confessor | 842 – 846 |
| 88. Ignatios I, the Prince | AD 846 – 857, 867 – 878 |
| 89. Photios the Great | AD 857 – 867, 878 – 886 |
| 90. Stephanos I, the Prince | AD 886 – 893 |
| 91. Antonios II, Kavleas | AD 893 – 895 |
| 92. Nikolaos I, the Mystic | AD 895 – 906, 911 – 925 |
| 93. Euthymios I | AD 906 – 911 |
| 94. Stephanos II | AD 925 – 928 |
| 95. Tryphon | AD 928 – 931 |
| 96. Theophylctos, Lakapenos, the Princeling | AD 933 – 956 |
| 97. Polyeuctos | AD 956 – 970 |
| 98. Vasilios I, Skamandrenos | AD 970 – 974 |
| 99. Antonios III, Skandalios, also Stoudites | AD 974 – 980 |
| 100. Nikolaos II, Chrysoverges | AD 984 – 995 |
Period during which the Metropolitans sat at Kiev:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| 1. Michael, the Syrian | A.D. 990 |
| 2. Leontius | A.D. 993 |
| 3. John | A.D. 1015 |
| 4. Theopemptus | A.D. 1037 |
| 5. Hilarion | A.D. 1051 |
| 6.George | A.D. 1072 |
| 7.John II | A.D. 1080 |
| 8. John III | A.D. 1089 |
| 9. Ephraim | A.D. 1096 |
| 10. Nicholas | A.D. 1098 |
| 11. Nicephorus | A.D. 1108 |
| 12. Nicetas | A.D. 1124 |
| 13. Michael II | A.D. 1127 |
| 14. Clement | A.D. 1197 |
| 15. Constantine | A.D. 1136 |
| 16. Theodore | A.D. 1160 |
| 17. John IV | A.D. 1164 |
| 18. Constantine II | A.D. 1167 |
| 19. Nicephorus II | A.D. 1185 |
| 20. Matthew | A.D. 1201 |
| 21. Kyrill I | A.D. 1205 |
| 22. Joseph | A.D. 1240 |
Period during which the Metropolitans sat at Vladimir:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| 23. Kyrill II | A.D. 1250 |
| 24. Maximus | A.D. 1283 |
| 25. Peter | A.D. 1308 |
Period during which the Metropolitans resided at Moscow:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| 26. Theognostes | A.D. 1328 |
| 27. Alexis | A.D. 1353 |
| 28. Cyprian | A.D. 1380 |
| 29. Photius | A.D. 1410 |
| 30. Isidore | A.D. 1432 |
| 31. Jonah | A.D. 1448 |
| 32. Theodosius | A D. 1462 |
| 33. Philip I | A.D. 1467 |
| 34. Gerontius | A.D. 1472 |
| 35. Zosimus | A.D. 1491 |
| 36. Simon | A.D. 1496 |
| 37. Barlaam | A.D. 1511 |
| 38. Daniel | A.D. 1522 |
| 39. Joasaph | A.D. 1539 |
| 40. Macarius | A.D. 1542 |
| 41. Athanasius | A.D. 1564 |
| 42. Philip | A.D. 1565 |
| 43. Cyrill III | A.D. 1568 |
| 44. Anthony | A.D. 1572 |
| 45. Dionysius | A.D. 1582 |
The Patriarchs of Moscow:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| 1. Job | A.D. 1587 |
| 2. Hermogenes | A.D. 1606 |
| 3. Philaret | A.D. 1620 |
| 4. Joasaph I | A.D. 1631 |
| 5. Joseph | A.D. 1642 |
| 6. Nikon | A.D. 1653 |
| 7. Joasaph II | A.D. 1667 |
| 8. Pitirim | A.D. 1672 |
| 9. Joachim | A.D. 1673 |
| 10. Adrian | A.D. 1690 |
| 11. Metropolitan Stephen (Yavorsky), of Rostov, Guardian of the Patriarchate | A.D. 1701 |
| 12. The Most Holy Synod | A.D. 1721 – 1918 |
| 13. St.Tikhon the New Martyr, 11th Patriarch | A.D. 1918 – 1925 |
| 14. St. Peter the New Martyr, Metropolitan of Petrograd, Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne | A.D. 1925 – 1938 |
ROCOR Chief Hierarchs:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| Blessed Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) | A.D. 1920 – 1936 |
| Blessed Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky) | A.D. 1936 – 1964 |
| St. Philaret (Voznesensky) the Confessor, of New York | A.D. 1964 – 1985 |
| Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) | A.D. 1986 – 1994 |
ROAC Chief Hierarchs:
| NAME of Hierarch | EPISCOPAL TERM |
| Metropolitan Valentine of Vladimir and Sudzal | 1990 – present |
NOTES OF INTEREST CONCERNING THIS LIST
The Holy Apostle Andrew: The Apostle St. Andrew was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Constantinople, apointing one of the 70, St. Stachys, as her bishop. He went throughout the Black sea region and on to Russia, where he planted a cross at Kiev; however, the full scale conversion of Russia would come much later.
Elevation from Metropolitan to Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia: In 1589 Ieremias [Jeremiah] II, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (1572 – 1579, 1580 – 1584, 1586 – 1595), with the other ancient patriarchates, granted the Russian Church autocephaly and raised Iov [Job], Metropolitan of Moscow to the Patriarchal dignity. This created the Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias.
Vacancy of the Patriarchate: In 1700 Tsar Peter the Great took advantage of the death of Patriarch Adrian to put an end to the position of Patriarch in the the Russian Church. He – with the consent of the other Patriarchs – refused to allow the election of a new Russian Patriarch. Metropolitan Stephen was made Guardian of the Patriarchate in 1701. In 1721 the Russian Church altered its hierarchal structure so that the conciliar authority of the Holy Synod of Bishops replaced the former system.
Patriarch Tikhon: The Holy Synod, on October 19, 1897, consecrated Fr. Tikhon Bishop of Lublin, a vicariate of the Kholm – Warsaw diocese, in the Trinity cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. His consecrators were Metropolitan Palladius (Rayev) of St. Petersburg, Archbishop Arsenius (Bryantsev) of Kazan, Archbishop Anthony (Vadkovsky) of Finland, Bishop John (Kratirov) of Narva and Bishop Gurias (Burtasovsky) of Samara. On September 14, 1898, he was made Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. In 1900 he was appointed Bishop of North America, becoming archbishop on May 19, 1905. On January 25, 1907, he was appointed Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov, and on December 22, 1913 he was transfered to the diocese of Vilnius. Since Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow had been among those removed from his see by the revolutionary Provisional government in 1917, it was necessary to elect a new metropolitan. On June 19, 1917, a congress of the clergy and laity of the diocese of Moscow met and on June23 / July 6 (according to another source, June 21 / July 4) elected Tikhon as Archbishop of Moscow and Kolomna (he became metropolitan on August 14/27). On August 15, 1917, the Local Council of the Russian Church opened in the cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow attended by 564 delegates. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected president of the Council by 407 votes to 33. The first major question before the Council was the restoration of the patriarchate, which had been abolished by Peter the Great in 1700. 200 delegates participated in the Section on the Higher Church Administrationwhich was to decide this question, and for a long time the opponents of the patriarchate, led by the future renovationist Professor Titlinov, waged a bitter struggle against its restoration. However, the Bolshevik coup on October 25 changed the mood of the Council, and on October 31, at the suggestion of Count Paul Mikhailovich Grabbe, nominations of candidates took place.
On the first secret ballot, Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov received 101 votes, Archbishop Arsenius of Novgorod – 27 votes, and Metropolitan Tikhon – 23 votes. On the second ballot, only the first three candidates on the first ballot were considered. Archbishop Anthony got 159 votes, Archbishop Arsenius – 148 votes, and Metropolitan Tikhon – 125 votes. These three names were then put in a blessed urn and placed before the famous wonderworking Vladimir icon of the Mother of God. On the following morning, after the Divine Liturgy and a moleben served to the Holy Hierarchs of Moscow, Elder Alexis of Zossima hermitage drew out one of the names and handed it to Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, the future hieromartyr. Metropolitan Vladimir crossed himself and read out: “Tikhon, Metropolitan of Moscow, Axios!"And on November21 / December 4, 1917, Metropolitan Tikhon was enthroned as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in the Kremlin Dormition cathedral to the sound of gunfire from the battle of Moscow raging outside.
On January 19, 1918, he anathematized the Bolsheviks and their co – workers, saying: “I adjure all of you who are faithful children of the Orthodox Church of Christ not to commune with such outcasts of the human race in any matter whatsoever”. Addressing the pastors and archpastors, he said: “Do not hesitate for a moment in your spiritual activity, but with fiery zeal call your children to defend the rights of the Orthodox Church which are now being trampled on. Immediately organize spiritual unions, call on them to enter, not of necessity but voluntary, into the ranks of the spiritual warriors, who oppose external force with the force of their holy inspiration...” The decree ended with an appeal to defend the Church, if necessary, to the death.
Patriarch Tikhon and the Beginning of the Catacomb Church and the ROCOR: In 1917, when Tsar Nikolai II and his family were secretly executed by the Jewish Bolsheviks, on April 5/18, 1918, the leadership of the Russian Church met to elect a new Patriarch: Metropolitan Tikhon. As Metropolitan, Tikhon had governed the Russian Church in America before being recalled to Russia. On Nov. 7/20, 1920, Patriarch Tikhon issued Ukaz #362, which ordered the bishops to organize an independent Church administration if cut off from the Higher Administration by the Soviets. The Bolsheviks imprisoned patriarch Tikhon in 1922. The Bolshevik government refused to allow an election for Tikhon’s successor when he was poisoned by the Bolsheviks in 1925, after refusing to submit the Church to the anti – chirst Soviet state. Metropolitan Peter became Tikhon’s Locum Tenens, but was also imprisoned and later would be exiled to the far north of Siberia for refusing to cooperate in any manner with the Bolsheviks. Consequently, The renovationist – sympathizer, Sergii [Stragorodsky], Metropolitan of Nizhni – Novgorod eventually was appointed by the Soviets as Locum Tenens. In July 16/29, 1927, Sergii issued his infamous “Declaration” saying, “The joys of the Soviet Union are our joys, and its woes are our woes”, and announced that the Church was to be entirely subservient to the anti – christ Soviet state. This was published in Soviet news in August. For this total subservience, which made the Church an instrument of KGB espionage and persecutors of the Catacomb Church, Sergii was made Patriarch of the MP Soviet Church in 1943, after gaining permission from Iosef Stalin to hold patriarchal elections once more. Along with many others, Metropolitan Joseph refused to sign the “Declaration” and thereby incurred condemnation and persecution as a ‘counter – revolutionary’. In December of 1927 Metropolitan Joseph blessed his Vicar Bishops to depart from Sergius; and, being himself in Rostov, on Jan. 29/ Feb. 9, he signed, together with Metropolitan Agathangel and other hierarchs of the Yaroslavl region, an epistle to Metropolitan Sergius of February 6, 1928, which declared their separation from him until he should show repentance for his errors, recognizing in the meantime no head of the Church apart from the banished Metropolitan Peter. Metropolitan Peter was executed by firing squad in 1938; however, the Catacomb Church continued throughout the Soviet anti – christian reign.
ROCOR: The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was founded in 1920, at the end of the Russian Civil War that followed the Revolution of 1917. Accompanying the countless Russian emigres, forced to flee their country as the Bolshevik atheist government took power were priests and a number of bishops who could no longer keep in contact with the Higher Church Administration in Moscow, headed by Patriarch Tikhon. In accordance with his Ukase No. 362, of November 20, 1920, if contact with the central Higher Church Administration were to be broken, then those bishops who found themselves in such a situation were to gather together to form a Higher Church Administration of their own. The emigre bishops, led by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) formed such a Higher Church Administration to direct the life of all parishes and monasteries outside of the territories controlled by the communist regime.
Metropolitan Anthony: In 1897 at the age of 34 he was consecrated bishop, and so had to give up his rectorship. At first he was vicar bishop in Kazan, then, in 1900, he became ruling bishop of Ufa, a distant provincial see. In 1902 Bishop Anthony was transferred to the Volynia cathedral [on the western border of Russia], where he remained until 1914. In 19l4 Archbishop Anthony was transferred to Kharkov. When the Revolution did come in 1917, he was compelled by various revolutionary elements to leave Kharkov, and he went to Valaam monastery, intending to devote the rest of his days to theological writing and monastic life. But very soon he was called to take part in the All – Russian Church Council in Moscow as a representative of Russian monasticism. Here he was the leading spokesman for the restoration of the Patriarchate. Archbishop Anthony was asked to return to Kharkov, but at the end of the Council he was made Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich. When the Petlura government [left – wing Ukrainian nationalists-] came to power, he was imprisoned for eight months in a Uniate monastery. Later he was able to return to Kiev, but while he was in Novocherkassk [in the south of Russia] on church business, Kiev fell to the advancing Red Army, preventing Vladika Anthony’s return to the city.
At Novocherkassk he led the Highest Church Administration, which was composed of bishops in the south whe were cutoff from Patriarch Tikhon by the civil war. This group of hierarchs was the precursor of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. After the White Army’s evacuation of the Crimea, Metropolitan Anthony accompanied it to Constantinople. He was soon invited to Yugoslavia by Patriarch Dimitrije of Serbia. Here he spent the last 15 years of his life as leader of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
At Sremski Karlovtsi, Metropolitan Anthony was the senior hierarch of the Synod of Bishops formed in 1922.
Metropolitan Antastassy: Metropolitan Anastassy was consecrated to the Episcopacy in Russia in 1906, served as Metropolitan of the ROCA until his death in 1965. Elected in 1936 to be first hierarch, successor to Metropolitan Anthony.
Metropolitan St. Philaret the Confessor: Consecrated Bishop of Brisbane, Vicar of the Australian diocese. From 1964, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York. First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, 1964 – 85.
Metropolitan Vitaly: Consecrated Bishop of Montevideo, Vicar of the Brazil diocese. From 1954, Bishop of Edmonton & Western Canada. From 1957, Archbishop of Montreal and Canada. From 1986, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York. First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. In the year 1994, Metropolitan Vitaly, with his Synod, announced that they were accepting the ecclesiology and theology of the deposed ecumenist, Cyprian of Fili and therefore entered into communion with him. After this, they announced (1997) that they were also in communion with the ecumenist Jerusalem Patriarchate and then (1999) with the Serbian Patriarchate. Then, in the year 2000, they sought the mediation of the Patriarch of Serbia to help them unite with the Moscow Patriarchate. Thus be traced since 1994 the fall of the traditionally confessing Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the abandonment of its true Orthodoxy, as handed down by its illustrios leaders, Metropolitans Anthony, Anastassy, and St. Philaret. This apostasy also caused the separation from the Russian Church Abroad of the hierarchs in Russia who continued to hold the Faith.
Metropolitan Valentine of Vladimir and Sudzal: On February 10, 1991, in the church of St. Job the Much – Suffering in Brussels, which was a memorial to the Holy Royal Martyrs, Archimandrite Valentine was consecrated Bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir. The consecration was carried out by four bishops of the Russian Church Abroad (ROCA), among them Bishop Gregory Grabbe, who had for many years assisted the great first – hierarchs of the ROCA and who rendered priceless assistance in the formation of the Russian [Rossijskoj] Church. In March, 1994, due to the great disorders in the Russian Church Abroad, the Higher Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church (as stipulated by the order number 362 of Patriarch Tikhon of All Russia) was organized, under the leadership of Archbishop Valentine. On March 2/15, 2001, the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church decreed that its head should hold the rank of Metropolitan. On December 2/19, 2001 Archimandrite Gregory of Dormition Skete, having been elected unanimously by the ROAC Synod of Bishops, was ordained Bishop of Denver and Vicar of the ROAC in America by Metropolitan Valentine, Archbishop Theodore, and Catacomb Bishop Anthony of Yaransk in the St. Constantine Cathedral, Suzdal, Russia.
Archbishop Gregory of Denver and Colorado: On May 17/30, 2004, Bishop Gregory was elevated to the rank of Archbishop by the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church #47 on March 7/20. The elevation was granted to him because of his missionary activities.
In the summer of 2004, the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church in America (ROAC) suffered a destructive schism due to the criminal behavior of Metropolitan Valentine. After surviving a five bypass heart surgery in Colorado, he acted in a fashion that is unacceptable for a bishop of the Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Valentine attacked his benefactor, Archbishop Gregory, and has adopted papal ideas, whereby he believes he has supreme authority to enter any monastery and any diocese of any country and usurp any bishop, steal any monk or priest, and ordain any person, without the permission from the ruling bishop! In doing thus, he falls under the condemnation of the Ecumenical Synods and their canons, which he disregards saying that they are applicable only to Greek bishops!
Metropolitan Valentine has maliciously slandered Archbishop Gregory publicly and in writing, and has again condemned himself to be liable to deposition by his undisciplined actions. All his uncanonical actions were put in a formal complaint to the Holy Synod which alone has the authority to punish any bishop, even a Metropolitan, who breaks the holy Canons. Regrettably all this took place in Russia, and the accused became the judge. The judge then threw out the accusation against himself and accused the accuser and sat in judgement over his own accusations! The only response from this unlawful court was e-mail messages supposedly from the Synod in Russia, stating that the Synod was no longer in communion with Archbishop Gregory. This caused a schism and those responsible in Russia will be held accountable before the dread throne of Christ.
The outcome of all this is that the only true representative and bishop of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) in America is Archbishop Gregory of Denver and Colorado. All those interested in joining the church which is also known as the Genuine Orthodox Church of America are invited to contact Dormition Skete at DormitionSkete@starband.net. The desire for true Orthodoxy under a confessing bishop should be the only criteria for joining the Church. If anybody wishes to join the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church under Archbishop Gregory only for the reason of preserving Russianness, he need not apply. The love of the truth is the only criteria for belonging to the Church.