Old Believers

In Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers, or Old Ritualists (Russian: старове́ры or старообря́дцы, starovyery or staroobryadtsy) separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. Old Believers continue liturgical practices that the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms. Russian-speakers refer to the schism itself as raskol (Russian: раскол), etymologically indicating a "cleaving-apart".

Old Believers

In Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers, or Old Ritualists (Russian: старове́ры or старообря́дцы, starovyery or staroobryadtsy) separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. Old Believers continue liturgical practices that the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms. Russian-speakers refer to the schism itself as raskol (Russian: раскол), etymologically indicating a "cleaving-apart".