In 2026, the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its founding. This jubilee is of Church-wide significance, as Germany is ultimately closely connected with key events in the twentieth-century history of the Russian Church Abroad: the forced emigration following the Civil War, the period of National Socialism, the Second World War, the mass presence of displaced persons, and the subsequent resettlement of Russian émigrés overseas. In more recent decades, the German Diocese played a key role in the processes that led to the restoration of ecclesiastical communion.
As part of the jubilee observances, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia — the supreme governing authority of the ROCOR — will convene in Munich in late April and early May.
On May 6–8, the international academic conference “Legacy and Calling,” devoted to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in Germany, will take place in Munich. Leading scholars from Germany, Austria, Belarus, Russia, and the United States will share their expertise pertaining to crucial events in the diocesan history.
His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, is expected to attend all three days of the conference, during which twenty-three papers will be presented. Among the hierarchs participating in the events will be His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse, Rector of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, who will also take part in the sessions of the Council of Bishops.
One of the organizers is the Rev. Protodeacon Andrei Psarev, Professor of Church History and Canon Law at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and founder of ROCOR Studies (www.rocorstudies.org). Fr. Andrei has been teaching the unique graduate class on the history of identity of the Russian Church Abroad. Since April 2025, he has played an active role in coordinating all aspects of the conference’s organization from Jordanville.
The conference will take place at Schloss Blutenburg, located across from the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in Obermenzing. The conference hall accommodates 120 participants. As of early March, approximately 100 participants have registered, including attendees traveling from abroad, among them speakers and guests from the United States.
The conference will be conducted in Russian and German. Online participation is available via registration at the link below. The suggested donation is €20 ($25). Should there be sufficient interest from English-speaking participants, online translation of the presentations into English may be provided.
The conference program and registration link are provided below. All papers will be live streamed in real time. Online participants are kindly asked to take time zone differences into account:
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia consists of eight dioceses that exist in very different historical and cultural circumstances. Yet these differences should not obscure the shared historical destiny that binds all these dioceses into one ecclesial whole.
The Russian Church Abroad has one history — complex, layered, and at times contradictory — and it is precisely this common history that becomes the subject of reflection at the conference of the German Diocese.
This conference seeks to contribute to the formation of a common language for Church-historical discussion, to articulate a shared voice, and thereby to foster a responsible dialogue with our past and our present.
