Schism of the Russian Church in the context of "Russian Orthodox"

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; Russian: Русская православная церковь, РПЦ, romanized: Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov, RPTs;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Московский патриархат, romanized: Moskovskiy patriarkhat), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. 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. In 1589, the metropolitan was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century, a series of reforms led to a schism in the Russian Church, as the Old Believers opposed the changes.

Alexei Mikhailovich (Russian: Алексей Михайлович, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ]; 19 March [O.S. 9 March] 1629 – 8 February [O.S. 29 January] 1676), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov.

He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council passed the Sobornoye Ulozheniye of 1649, which strengthened the bonds between autocracy and the lower nobility. In religious matters, he sided closely with Patriarch Nikon during the schism in the Russian Orthodox Church which saw unpopular liturgical reforms.

Old Believers or Old Ritualists (Russian: староверы, starovery or старообрядцы, staroobryadtsy) is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church, as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1653 and 1657. The old rite and its followers were anathematized in 1667, and Old Belief gradually emerged from the resulting schism.

The antecedents of the movement regarded the reform as heralding the End of Days, and the Russian church and state as servants of the Antichrist. Fleeing persecution by the government, they settled in remote areas or escaped to the neighboring countries. Their communities were marked by strict morals and religious devotion, including various taboos meant to separate them from the outer world. They rejected the Westernization measures of Peter the Great, preserving traditional Russian culture, like long beards for men.

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; Russian: Русская православная церковь, РПЦ, romanized: Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', RPTs;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Московский патриархат, romanized: Moskovskiy patriarkhat), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. 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. In 1589, the metropolitan was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century, a series of reforms led to a schism in the Russian Church, as the Old Believers opposed the changes.