Federal court protects church’s freedom to pick bishops Judge upholds Orthodox Church’s ability to freely make and discuss internal leadership choices

WASHINGTON – A federal court yesterday ruled in favor of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), confirming the Church’s ability to freely discuss and decide who should be its bishops. In Belya v. Metropolitan Hilarion, a defrocked priest sued his former church over a church disciplinary letter that questioned whether he met the qualifications necessary to be elected as a bishop. Becket, representing ROCOR, defended the Church’s freedom to select, discipline, and remove its leaders.   

ROCOR began in the 1920s after the Bolshevik government’s interference in and outright oppression of the Church forced many faithful Russian Orthodox bishops, priests, and church members into exile. Many fled to the nations of the free world, including the United States. Ever since, ROCOR continues to grow throughout the globe, with over 500 parishes worldwide and nearly 300 within the United States.  

“We are grateful that our sacred responsibility of bringing God’s truth into the world has been reaffirmed,” said His Eminence Nicholas, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. “Our church leadership should be free to prayerfully decide who should be entrusted with the heavy responsibility of the bishopric, relying only on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and protected from outside interference.” 

Father Alexander is a now-defrocked ROCOR priest. In the midst of an internal ecclesiastical uproar about whether he met the qualifications necessary to be elected bishop, Father Alexander’s diocesan leaders wrote a letter to the ROCOR Synod describing complaints about Father Alexander’s conduct that violated church laws and explained that he had not been elected pursuant to church requirements. The letter called on the Church to suspend Father Alexander and to open an investigation. Father Alexander then left ROCOR and sued the Church for defamation. The Church has been in court defending its freedom to decide matters of church governance for over five years. 

“Priests don’t get to drag their former churches to trial over internal disciplinary deliberations,” said Diana Thomson, senior counsel at Becket. “The court’s ruling ensures this remains true and protects churches’ freedom to live, teach, and govern without being sued for how they communicate internally about clerical decisions.” 

The Church is also represented by Donald J. Feerick, Jr. and Alak Shah at Feerick Nugent MacCartney, PLLC.  

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.