Catacomb Church Council of Ust-Kut (1937)

[BenjaminMcCraw]

The last Josephite bishop, Avdiy, died in 1978. In the 1980s and 90s, the ROCOR did not recognize ANY of the surviving Catacomb bishops as canonical (which is why they consecrated Lazar Zhurbenko to the episcopate to annex Catacomb parishioners to the Free Russian Orthodox Church). The ROAC (or RTOC or ROCiE, ROCOR-A for that matter) doesn't have any apostolic succession from any of these Josephite, Seraphimo-Gennadite, etc. hierarchs whatsoever. Their parishioners might be descended from or comprised of older lay Catacombniks, but from what I can tell, no True Orthodox synod that exists today received their apostolic succession from any Catacomb bishop.

The more I dig into the question of the Catacombniks the more complicated it becomes to me. The main persons pushing to not recognize any of the other catacomb groups seems to be Metropolitan Laurus Shkurla and Metropolitan Lazar Zhurbenko, i know there are people that want their work double checked. Contrary to what may be said polemically there was at least 9 catacomb groups in the 1980's:

Josephite followers who trusted Rocor

Josephite followers who didn't trust Rocor

Followers of Bishop Anthony Golynsky-Mikhailovsky

Andrewites/Andreevskys (followers of Bishop of Ufa Andrew Ukhtomsky)

Seraphimo-Gennadites (followers of Bishop Seraphim Pozdeev and Bishop Gennady Sekach)

Danilovites/Danilovtsy (named after the monastery) such as Bishop Nicholas Nikolsky

Renovationist Catacombniks claimed to be in communion with the followers of Bishop Aftimios Ofiesh

Old Believers Catacombniks such as Bishop Clement Longinov

UAOC Catacombniks such as Bishop Feodosy Bakhmetev

Now if any of these people have true or dubious succession is above my knowledge at the moment. Obviously we shouldn't accept heretics like the Renovationists. But I do know there are currently bishops in at least Rocor-A and TOC-iR that trace their succession back to these groups and probably more than that.

[haralampopoulosjc]

@BenjaminMcCraw

If they are in these groups now, they were probably either laymen or priests at the time, and
if they were accepted as bishops, they were probably either re-ordained or accepted by cherosethia.

[BenjaminMcCraw]

@BenjaminMcCraw

If they are in these groups now, they were probably either laymen or priests at the time, and
if they were accepted as bishops, they were probably either re-ordained or accepted by cherosethia.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that's the case. Side note, how do you tag someone? I'm still figuring out the forum

[BenjaminMcCraw]

The last Josephite bishop, Avdiy, died in 1978.

I have tried looking up the life of Bishop Avidy and I haven't been successful. Who was he and what was his full name? The last Josephite bishop I was aware of was Schema-Bishop of Nizhegorod Peter Pitirim Ladygin who died in 1957. Do you know of any other Josephite bishops who were alive between 1957 and 1978 besides Bishop Avidy?

[SavaBeljovic]

The last Josephite bishop, Avdiy, died in 1978.

I have tried looking up the life of Bishop Avidy and I haven't been successful. Who was he and what was his full name? The last Josephite bishop I was aware of was Schema-Bishop of Nizhegorod Peter Pitirim Ladygin who died in 1957. Do you know of any other Josephite bishops who were alive between 1957 and 1978 besides Bishop Avidy?

The New Confessor St. Pyotr (Ladygin) of Nizhny-Novgorod was glorified a Saint by the ROAC in 1998, I'm not sure if any other TOCs have followed suit. In our life we published, our Hieromonk Boris in Suzdal (memory eternal) said he was the last universally recognized Katakombnik Bishop.

I am not sure if he was a "Josephite" but Vladyka Mikhail (Yershov), who undeniably was a true Confessor for the Faith, fell asleep in 1979 after suffering for years in the Soviet psychiatric prisons and after bringing many to Orthodoxy. My good friend who runs the Gregory Decapolite channel translated many details about his life and put them in his videos, they are worth the watch.

I am not sure which Catacomb Bishops he was descended from, however.

[BenjaminMcCraw]

I am not sure if he was a "Josephite" but Vladyka Mikhail (Yershov), who undeniably was a true Confessor for the Faith, fell asleep in 1979 after suffering for years in the Soviet psychiatric prisons and after bringing many to Orthodoxy. My good friend who runs the Gregory Decapolite channel translated many details about his life and put them in his videos, they are worth the watch.

I am not sure which Catacomb Bishops he was descended from, however.

To my knowledge Bishop Mikhail Yershov was ordained a catacomb bishop by Bishop St. Nektary Trezvinsky of Yaransky the new martyr