|
 In
the middle of 17th Century there occurred in the Russian Church a major
split due to the liturgical reforms of Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681), who
attempted to correct certain corruptions in the liturgical books and liturgical
practice. The result was the splitting off of the Old Believers, who resisted
the changes (many of which were ill-founded), as well as their persecution,
and this schism has endured to the present day. The leaders of the Old
Believers, including the Archpriest Avakkum, were burned at the stake
and Nikon himself suffered persecution, since the Council of Moscow, which
met in 1666-7, endorsed his reforms, but deposed him from his Patriarchal
Office because of his intemperance and arrogance. |
