This article lists the metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow, spiritual heads of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. Since 1308, there have been 59.

History

The

traces its beginnings to the

Christianization of Kievan Rus' The Christianization of Kievan Rus' was a long and complicated process that took place in several stages. In 867, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople told other Christian patriarchs that the Rus' people were converting enthusiastically, but his ...

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in 988 AD. In 1316 the Metropolitan of Kiev changed his see to the city of Vladimir, and in 1322 moved again to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1589, the see was elevated to a

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

ate. The Patriarchate was abolished by the Church reform of Peter the Great in 1721 and replaced by the Most Holy Governing Synod, and the Bishop of Moscow came to be called a Metropolitan again. The Patriarchate was restored by the 1917–18 Local Council and suspended by the

Soviet government The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 199 ...

in 1925. It was reintroduced for the last time by the 1943 Bishops' Council, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the initiative of

Soviet leader During History of the Soviet Union, its 69-year history, the Soviet Union usually had a ''de facto'' leader who would not always necessarily be head of state or even head of government but would lead while holding an office such as General Sec ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. To this date, 19 of the Metropolitans have been glorified in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitans of Kiev and all Rus' (permanent residence in Moscow, 1325–1441)

''For a list of metropolitans before the seat of the

Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' The Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' (; ) was a Metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolis of the Eastern Orthodox Church that was erected on the territory of Kievan Rus'. It existed between 988 AD and 1590s AD. The long lasting "tug of war" ...

was moved to Moscow, see List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Kyiv.'' Isidore of Kiev, who was of Greek origin, submitted to the articles of the

Bull of Union with the Greeks ''Laetentur Caeli: Bulla Unionis Graecorum''Sometimes also spelled as ''Laetentur Coeli, Laetantur Caeli, Lætentur Cæli, Lætentur Cœli'', or ''Lætantur Cæli'', and occasionally referred to as the ''Act of Union'' or "Decree of Union". (Eng ...

which united the Orthodox Church in Russia with the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

. Following his acceptance of the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

, Isidore returned to Moscow in 1441 as a

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. He was arrested by the

Grand Prince of Moscow The Grand Prince of Moscow (), known as the Prince of Moscow until 1389, was the ruler of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Moscow principality was initially established in the 13th century as an appanage within the Vladimir-Suzdal grand prin ...

—

Vasily II Vasily II Vasilyevich (; 10 March 141527 March 1462), nicknamed the Blind or the Dark (), was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1425 until his death in 1462. He succeeded his father, Vasily I, only to be challenged by his uncle Yuri of Zvenig ...

, and accused of

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

. The Grand Duke deposed Isidore and in 1448 installed his own candidate as Metropolitan of Kiev —

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

. This was carried out without the approval of Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople. When Isidore died in 1458, the Orthodox

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s within the territory of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, including Kiev, were reorganized. The metropolitan see was moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A parallel succession to the title ensued between Moscow and Vilnius.

Metropolitans of Moscow and all Rus' (1448–1589)

The Grand Prince of Moscow voided the Union of Florence and imprisoned Metropolitan Isidore for some time. Following that incident, the Grand Prince removed Isidore from office and appointed his own man —

. These decisions were not recognised by Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople who continued to recognise Isidore as the

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

metropolitan. As a result, in 1448, Jonah unilaterally changed his title to "Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' " which was tantamount to a declaration of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of the Church in eastern Rus' from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. All sixteen successive hierarchs of the Metropolis of Moscow and all Rus' were selected by the civil power and installed without the approval of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Successive patriarchs continued to recognize Isidore and his successors as hierarchs of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'.

Patriarchs of Moscow and all Rus' (1589–1721)

Metropolitans and archbishops of Moscow (1721–1917)

Patriarchs of Moscow and all Rus' (restored, 1917–present)

Timeline of patriarchs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Metropolitans And Patriarchs Of Moscow *List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs

Metropolitans and Patriarchs