Church of The Refugees (1922–1991)
At first the Russian Orthodox Church's hierarchy within Russia had resisted Bolshevik rule. After arrests and persecution of much of the Church’s leadership, Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky (one of the Assistant Deputy Patriarchs) agreed in 1927 to negotiations with the State Political Directorate from his prison cell. Sergius pledged the Church’s qualified loyalty to the Bolshevik state (an act his defenders claim saved the Church from total liquidation). This pledge caused a deep schism that prompted many disillusioned believers to go underground where they formed what became called the Russian True Orthodox Church. Sergius’ accommodation also alienated the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
Despite distancing itself from both the Bolsheviks and Sergius, in 1927 ROCOR declared "The part of the Russian Church that finds itself abroad considers itself an inseparable, spiritually united branch of the Great Russian Church. It doesn't separate itself from its Mother Church and doesn't consider itself autocephalous", indicating that ROCOR considered itself to speak for all of the Russian Orthodox outside Russia.
Read more about this topic: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Of Russia
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