Who are the Old Believers? #

Old Believers are Orthodox Christians who did not accept the reforms of the Russian Church implemented in the mid-17th century by Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. Although the term “Old Ritualist1” (старообрядцы) is part of the official name of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, it was adopted out of historical necessity and does not fully convey the richness of Orthodox doctrine upheld by the Old Believers.

The term “rite” (обряд) appeared only after the church schism, during the early 18th century under Peter the Great. Christians who did not accept the reform were labeled schismatics by the dominant Church, shifting the blame for the tragic events onto those who sought to preserve the ancient traditions. It wasn’t until the reign of Empress Catherine the Great that a less offensive term—“Old Believers”—was allowed. The guardians of pre-reform church traditions referred to themselves as Ancient Orthodox Christians but accepted the term “Old Believers” to emphasize their external differences from the dominant Church. If the adherents of the ancient faith are called Old Believers, it follows that supporters of the reform could be referred to as New Ritualists.

Today, New Ritualists often claim there is essentially no difference between the old and new rites and that the perceived ignorance of the Old Believers is the only obstacle to the reunification of these two streams of Russian Orthodoxy. However, during the mid-17th century reforms, the exact opposite was asserted: the old rites were declared un-Orthodox and accused of distorting Orthodox doctrine. Those who resisted were forced to accept the changes under threat of excommunication and civil punishment.

By the second half of the 19th century, the work of church historians confirmed that the old rites and practices had been used in the Orthodox Church since ancient times and served as external expressions of Orthodox dogma. In contrast, the new rites and practices introduced by the reform were borrowed from religious movements that had distorted Orthodoxy and failed to fully reflect the depth of Orthodox teaching. For this reason, Orthodox tradition strictly forbids altering certain external practices to avoid harming their internal significance, such as the sign of the cross, the Creed, or the use of leavened bread in the Eucharist.

— Priest Evgeny Gureev