Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

This section preserves biographical information, photographs, and historical records relating to the bishops and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church.

His Eminence, The Most Reverend Metropolitan THEODORE of Suzdal and Vladimir

In the world Vladimir Alexandrovich Gineyevsky, Archbishop Theodore was born on April 5, 1955, in the Kuban of the Otradnaya Region, where he grew up surrounded by catacomb Christians. In 1972, while living in Makhachkape, he became acquainted with the then-Archimandrite Valentine (Rusantsov) and became his spiritual son. Over the next several decades, he became Archimandrite Valentine’s irreplaceable assistant. In 1973, he followed Fr Valentine to Suzdal where he was appointed reader in the Kazan church. In 1976 he was tonsured into monasticism. He was later ordained first as hierodeacon and then as priest of the St Constantine cathedral in Suzdal, and finally to the rank of hegumen. Supporting the labors of Archimandrite Valentine, he took a most active part in the regeneration of church life in Suzdal.

In 1990, following the initiation of the persecution of Archimandrite Valentine, he petitioned for retirement, and together with Archimandrite Valentine and the Suzdal believers, he transferred to the Russian Church Abroad. He was then raised to the rank of archimandrite, became secretary of the Suzdal Diocesan Administration, and undertook great labors to regulate the life of the diocese.

On March, 19, 1994, in accordance with a decision of the Temporary Higher Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was consecrated as Bishop of Borisovskoye and Sanino, a vicariate of the Suzdal Diocese. As a result of intrigue initiated by Archbishop Mark and his faction, the consecration was not immediately recognized by the Hierarchal Council of the ROCA. Following the reconciliatory Lesna Council of the ROCA in December of 1994, the foreign bishops recognized his consecration and invited Bishops Theodore and Seraphim to a session of the Hierarchal Synod of the ROCA in New York. Trampling upon their expressed word, at this session, the Hierarchal Sobor revealed their true motive for inviting the Russian Bishops to New York, imposing uncanonical bans on the Russian Bishops. Archbishop Valentine and Bishops Theodore and Seraphim were informed by this Hierarchal Sobor (which wished to remove them as a cause of trouble with the Moscow Patriarchate) that they would remain bishops only if they would agree to never return to Russia, accepting instead residence in another remote place such as Australia. As mentioned previously, at the diocesan assembly of the Suzdal Diocese and the sessions of the THCA, it was decided to cease submission to the Hierarchal Council of the ROCA in view of its uncanonical policies. Since 1996 Bishop Theodore has served as secretary, and then as chancellor of the Hierarchal Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROAC).

Archbishop Theodore is ardently loved by the believers for his kind and simple manner and unfailing goodwilll. In the diocese and Synod he bears a huge load of administrative work, helps Metropolitan Valentine in all his labors, and carries out numerous pastoral journeys.

His Eminence, The Most Reverend Archbishop TIMOTHY of Orenburg and Urupsk

In the world Anatoly Alexeyevich Sharov, he was born on October 3, 1954, into a peasant family in the village of Ivanovka, Orenburg province, and graduated from the historical department of the Orenburg pedagogical institute. In November, 1989, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Gabriel of Khabarovsk (MP) and served in the town of Magadan. During his time there, he also completed a correspondence course with the Moscow Theological Seminary.

In 1991, confessing before the Church of God his will to strive “to serve the Church even unto confession and martyrdom”, “firmly standing for the truth, for the purity of the Orthodox faith”, Archimandrite Timothy and his community were received into the Free Russian Orthodox Church (FROC). Later, on November 24, 2000 in the St Constantine church, Archbishop Valentine, together with Bishops Theodore, Seraphim, Victor and Anthony, carried out the hierarchal consecration of Archimandrite Timothy to the bishopric of Orenburg. In the Fall 2002 synod meeting of the ROAC, Bishop Timothy was made ruling-bishop of Orenburg and Kurgan.

Vladyka Timothy continues to serve the faithful in the village of Ivanovka, Orenburg province, in a small church he built, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He helps to improve church life through publishing educational leaflets, and he sometimes submits articles for Vertograd-Inform Information bulletin (a journal published by members of ROAC from Moscow and St Petersburg).

His Eminence, The Most Reverend Archbishop ANDREI of Pavlovskoye and Rockland

By decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, taken on May 13/26, 2006, (Protocol #54) Archimandrite Andrei (Maklakov), rector of St. Nicholas Church in New Jersey (USA) was chosen to become the Bishop of Pavlovskoye, Vicar Bishop of the Suzdal Diocese. Archimandrite Andrei’s consecration to the episcopate was performed on June 8/21, 2006.

Fr. Igumen Andrei’s candidacy (Maklakov) was originally put forth by the American clergy of the ROAC in 2004. At the Synod of Bishops meeting on December 13/26, 2004, it was resolved that Fr. Andrei should be considered a candidate for the episcopacy, and that his biography and that this recommendation together with his biography should be sent to all of the bishops for their response.

Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal and Vladimir, First Hierarch of the ROAC, presided at the all-night vigil held in the Tsar Constantine Cathedral for St Theodore, the first Bishop of Suzdal and Enlightner of the entire Suzdal region. Concelebrating with him were the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Theodore of Borisovsk and of Otradnaya, and His Grace Irinarkh of Tula and of Bryansk, together with a large number of clergy from the Suzdal Deanery as well as clergy who came in from other cities throughout Russia. Following the dismissal at the First Hour, in the center of the church, the Order of Election to the Episcopacy was performed. The next morning, following the blessing of water, the akathist to St Theodore, and the Hours, Archimandrite Andrei, Bishop elect for the see of Pavlovsk, made his confession of faith before the Gospel and the Cross, pronounced his oath and hierarchical vows to be loyal to the holy Canons of the Church, to the First Hierarch and the Sobor of Bishops in all things, even if the people or the powers that be in this world should require him to apostasize.

After the little entrance and the singing of the thrice holy hymn, Archimandrite Andrei was consecrated as Bishop of the see of Pavlovsk. The consecration was performed by Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal and of Vladimir, Archbishop Theodore of Borisovsk and of Otradnaya, and by Bishop Irinarkh of Tula and of Bryansk. The newly consecrated bishop partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ from one chalice together with the rest of the clergy, and then received their congratulations.

Following the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Valentine handed the bishop’s crozier-the symbol of episcopal authority-to the newly consecrated Hierarch, and told him that God had been preparing Fr. Andrei for this moment for a long time, testing his patience, humility and loyalty to the Holy Church, and the dogmas and Canons of Orthodoxy, through many and various temptations. His service included time spent in Rome and in Denmark. Vladyka briefly described Vladyka Andrei’s life journey, and cautioned him that, above all, a bishop should not be a scandal for anyone, and should not lead anyone into the sin of judging, but should lead his flock along the path of Christ, swerving neither to the left nor to the right. Vladyka Andrei will be mainly performing his archpastoral service in the USA, tending to the True Orthodox Christians of the Russian Church.

Afterwards, all present were invited to a banquet held in the church next door to the cathedral, which has been arranged as a trapeza. After the banquet was ended, Bishop Andrei conversed with the parishioners and answered a multitude of questions. Vladyka said that he is an American himself, who has lived for more than thirty years amongst the Russian Orthodox diaspora. He was ordained to the priesthood in the ROCOR by St Metropolitan Philaret, and that he had been under the spiritual tutelage of His Eminence Archbishop Andrei (Rimarenko) of Rockland, who himself was a spiritual son of the last Optina elder Nektary. Vladyka explained that in America, his flock is not large, but that at the present time there is a split taking place in the ROCOR, and that many people, priests and lay people alike who do not want to join the MP, do not know where to go. Many of them are casting an eye in the direction of our Church since it has kept the essence of Orthodoxy and continues to hold on to the best traditions of the ROCOR. “Unfortunately,” said Vladyka Andrei, “the most important thing for many in the ROCOR has been the keeping of their ‘Russianness,’ and not their Orthodox Faith. Four years ago, the so-called Patriarch Alexis sent a letter to the Bishops of the ROCOR, in which he said that without us, i.e. without the MP, you can certainly be Orthodox, but you can’t remain Russian for long. But for us, for believing people, the most important thing is not to be Russian, but to be Orthodox. We do not believe in and worship Russia, but we worship Jesus Christ, Who spared not His own Jewish nation, spared not the Roman empire, nor the Byzantine empire, and will not spare Russia either, if it does not keep the True Faith. For us, what is important is to be Russian Orthodox, with the emphasis on the Orthodox part, rather than to be Russian, but apostates.”

“Many in the diaspora,” continued Vladyka Andrei, “fail to understand what is going on inside Russia at the present moment, and think that the massive effort to rebuild churches and regild their domes is a sign of a genuine religious renaissance in Russia and amongst the Russian people. Many are not aware that there are still catacomb Christians in Russia, who never for a moment belonged to the MP, or else belonged in ignorance. These people have remained unbroken by the difficulties that they experienced, have remained loyal to the Canons and the dogmas of the Faith, have striven to keep their faith and their consciences pure, and never stained them by joinging with the false church, which is the MP. And having come to Suzdal, I can now say that I am convinced that this is so.””In America, we have absolute freedom of religion; this is one of the founding principles upon which our government was established, and therefore it is impossible that there should be any kind of governmental force, which weighs upon our conscience there. We are deeply in awe at the experience of your Faith, here in Russia, pressured as it is by the state authorities and their sanctioned church authorities in turn, which you have had to endure in order to preserve your spiritual freedom. Of course, the American authorities understand that the MP represents a “church of spies,” and that just as earlier it served the purposes of the Soviet government, so now it serves the interests of Putin’s government. But the government in the US does not understand our church matters well enough that they could defend the Church Abroad, or Her canonical and dogmatic purity.”

His Eminence, The Most Reverend Archbishop IRINARCH of Tula and Briansk

Bishop Irinarch was born in 1967 into a family of believers in the Nizhni-Novgorod region, where he attended church from childhood onward. He arrived in Suzdal in 1984, where he later met then-archimandrite Valentine, became part of his parish, and, in 1987, was tonsured into monasticism. In 1990, the future-Bishop Irinarch left the MP along with then-archimandrite Valentine and many other clergy and believers, repudiating it, and becoming a part of the FROC. He was later made a priest-monk and eventually an archimandrite.

On November 23, 2003, in the temple of the Mother of God in Suzdal, Archimandrite Irinarch was consecrated Bishop of Tula and Briansk by now-Metropolitan Valentine aling with Archbishop Theodore of Borisovsk and Sanino, and Bishop Ambrose of Khabarovsk.

He is quiet, prayerful, and has served in Suzdal for many years and is well-loved and respected by all. Along with his parishes, he is establishing a women’s convent in his diocese.

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop MARK of Armavir and Northern Caucasus

Consecrated Bishop of Armavir in February 2011.

Served within the North Caucasus Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church.

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop TROPHIM of Simbirsk

Bishop Trophim (Tarasov) was elected Bishop of Simbirsk by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church on February 4, 2011. He was consecrated to the episcopacy on February 5, 2011, serving as Bishop of Simbirsk and vicar of the Suzdal Diocese.

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop VISSARION of Tiulgansk

Bishop Vissarion was consecrated to the episcopacy in May 2022 and serves as Bishop of Tiulgansk within the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. He was born in 1947 and received monastic tonsure in 1981.

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop CASSIAN of Velbuzhsk (Bulgaria)

Schema-Archimandrite Cassian (Angelov) was consecrated bishop during the ROAC Hierarchical Synod in May 2022. He serves in Bulgaria as Bishop of Velbuzhsk (sometimes referred to as Kyustendil/Velbazhd depending on the translation). Before his consecration he was known as the author of the book Christianity Without Christ (Христианство без Христа). He was born in 1951 and received monastic vows in 1981.

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