Marking the 40th Anniversary of Autocephaly
March 31, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on autocephaly between the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate and what at that time was known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America—since October of 1970 known as the Orthodox Church in America.
The complete text of the agreement may be found on the OCA web site at https://www.oca.org/DOCindex-autocephaly.asp?SID=12.
Nearly two weeks later, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, meeting in Moscow, signed the Tomos of Autocephaly, while on May 18, 1970, a delegation from the fledgling OCA traveled to Moscow to receive the Tomos. The text of the Tomos is posted on the OCA web site at https://www.oca.org/DOCtomos.asp?SID=12.
To mark the anniversary, special features will be forthcoming on the OCA web site at http://www.oca.org and in the Spring 2010 issue of “The Orthodox Church” magazine.
For an excellent photo essay on autocephaly, visit https://www.oca.org/media/photos?EID=926.