Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church

Orthodox Old-Rite Church
Biserica Ortodoxă de Rit Vechi
Type	Eastern Christianity
Classification	Old Believers
Orientation	Russian Orthodoxy
Scripture	Septuagint, New Testament
Theology	Eastern Orthodox theology
Polity	Episcopal
Metropolitan bishop	Leontius Izot
Language	Church Slavonic
Liturgy	A variation of the Byzantine Rite
Headquarters	Fântâna Albă (1846-1940), Brăila (since 1940)
Territory	claim to lead the Old Believers all over the world, except Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Central Asia
Origin	1846
Separated from	Russian Orthodox Church
Members	32,558 (2011)
Places of worship	67

Old Believers in Romania (2002 census)

The Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church (or Orthodox Old-ritualist Church, Orthodox Old-Rite Church, Romanian: Biserica Ortodoxă de Rit Vechi din România; Russian: Православная старообрядческая Церковь в Румынии) is the Romanian Old Believer jurisdiction of the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy.

The head of the Church carries the title of Archbishop of Belaya Krinitsa and Bucharest and Metropolitan of all Orthodox Christians of the Old Rite everywhere (Russian: Архиепископ Белой Криницы и Бухареста и митрополит всех православных христиан старого обряда повсюду). His see is nominally in Bila Krynytsia/Belaya Krinitsa/Fântâna Albă (Bukovina), his residence in Brăila, Romania since 1940.

It positions itself as the world center of popovtsy, as the "Mother Church" for the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church; the latter does not recognize this.

History

Lipovans are Russian Old Believers who fled Russia in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in order to escape the persecution of their faith.

Eparchies

There are seven eparchies of the Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church:

• Eparchy of Fântâna Albă, with residence in Brăila, which includes the old rite orthodox parishes from Brăila and Galați counties, Bucharest, Borduşani (Ialomiţa county), Fântâna Albă/Bila Krynytsia (Ukraine);
• Eparchy of Slava, with residence in Slava Rusă (Tulcea county), which includes the parishes from Slava Rusă, Slava Cercheză, Carcaliu, Ghindăreşti, Jurilovca, 2 Mai, Constanţa, Cernavodă and Năvodari in Constanţa county, and parishes from Bulgaria;
• Eparchy of Bukovina and Moldavia, with residence in Târgu Frumos (Iași County), which includes the parishes from Iași, Vaslui, Neamţ, Suceava and Botoșani counties;
• Eparchy of Tulcea, with residence in Tulcea, which includes the parishes from Tulcea, Sulina, Mahmudia, Sarichioi, Periprava, Chilia Veche, Mila 23, Sfiştovca;
• Eparchy of the USA, residing in Oregon, which includes the parishes from the U.S., Canada, and Australia;
• Western Eparchy, based in Turin (Italy), which includes the parishes from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Austria, and Hungary;
• Eparchy of the Baltic States, residing in Jēkabpils, comprising the parishes from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

First Hierarchs

In Hungary and Romania (Belaya Krinitsa, temporarily in Brăila, Romania)

Name Title	Portrait	Period		Notes
Ambrose (Papageorgopolos) Metropolitan of Belaya Krinitza		28 October 1846	26 July 1848	Died on 30 October 1863
Cyril (Timofeyev) Archbishop of Belaja Krinitza and Metropolitan of All Old-Rite Orthodox Christians		4 January 1849	2 December 1873
Athanasius (Makurov)		9 May 1874	1 October 1905
Macarius (Lobov)		10 September 1906	2 January 1921
Nicodemus (Fedotov)		24 September 1924	15 October 1926
Paphnutius (Fedoseyev)		8 June 1928	8 April 1939
Silouan (Kravtsov)		25 June 1939	5 January 1941	The last metropolitan, who resided in Belaya Krinitsa. 22 July 1940 he transferred his headquarter to Brăila
Innocent (Usov)		10 May 1941	16 February 1942
Tikhon (Kachalkin) Metropolitan of Belaya Krinitza		12 April 1942	4 March 1968
Joasaph (Timofey)		15 December 1968	16 February 1985
Timon (Gavrilov)		1 June 1985	21 August 1996
Leontius (Izot)		24 October 1996	Incumbent

External links

• Official website