List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow

File:Monogram Patriarchy Moskiewskiego i całej Rusi, Cyryla..svg Monogram of the current Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Kirill.

File:Dvenadsatapostolov2.jpg Church of the Twelve Apostles, Cathedral Square, Kremlin – cathedral church of the Patriarchs of Moscow.

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This article lists the metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow, spiritual heads of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since 1308, there have been 59.

History

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Russian Orthodox Church traces its beginnings to the Christianization of Kievan Rus' at Kiev in 988 AD. In 1316 the Metropolitan of Kiev changed his see to the city of Vladimir, and in 1322 moved again to Moscow. In 1589, the see was elevated to a Patriarchate. The Patriarchate was abolished by the Church reform of Peter the Great in 1721 and replaced by the Most Holy Governing Synod, and the Bishop of Moscow came to be called a Metropolitan again. The Patriarchate was restored by the 1917–18 Local Council and suspended by the Soviet government in 1925. It was reintroduced for the last time by the 1943 Bishops' Council, during World War II by the initiative of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. To this date, 19 of the Metropolitans have been glorified in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitans of Kiev and all Rus' (permanent residence in Moscow, 1325–1441)

For a list of metropolitans before the seat of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' was moved to Moscow, see List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Kyiv.

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign	Notes
1	St. Peter	File:Mitropolit petr of Moscow.jpg	1308–1326
Seat vacant 1326–1328
2	St. Theognostus	File:Metropolitan Theognost - wooden figure.jpg	1328–1353
3	St. Alexius	File:Dionisius 002.jpg	1354–1378
	Mikhail (Mityay) (ru)	File:No image.png	1378–1379	Locum tenens
Seat vacant 1379–1381
4	St. Cyprian	File:Kyprian.jpg	1381–1382	First tenure
5	Pimen	File:No image.png	1382–1384	In opposition
6	St. Dionysius I	File:Dionisiy.jpg	1384–1385	In opposition
Seat vacant 1385–1390
	St. Cyprian	File:Kyprian.jpg	1390–1406	Second tenure
Seat vacant 1406–1408
7	St. Photius	File:Photiy.jpg	1408–1431
Seat vacant 1431–1433
8	Gerasim (ru)	File:No image.png	1433–1435
9	Isidore of Kiev	File:Isidore of Kiev.jpg	1436–1441	Deposed by the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasily II, over his acceptance of the Council of Florence. The deposition was not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Seat vacant 1441–1448 (according to the Grand Duke of Moscow)

File:Holy Metropolitans of Moscow - Peter, Alexis, Jonah and Phili (1730-40s, priv.coll).jpg

Five Holy Metropolitans (Peter, Alexius, Jonah, Philip). 18th century icon

Isidore of Kiev, who was of Greek origin, submitted to the articles of the Bull of Union with the Greeks which united the Orthodox Church in Russia with the Latin Church. Following his acceptance of the Council of Florence, Isidore returned to Moscow in 1441 as a Ruthenian cardinal. He was arrested by the Grand Prince of Moscow — Vasily II, and accused of apostasy. The Grand Duke deposed Isidore and in 1448 installed his own candidate as Metropolitan of Kiev — Jonah. This was carried out without the approval of Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople. When Isidore died in 1458, the Orthodox dioceses within the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including Kiev, were reorganized. The metropolitan see was moved to Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A parallel succession to the title ensued between Moscow and Vilnius.

Metropolitans of Moscow and all Rus' (1448–1589)

The Grand Prince of Moscow voided the Union of Florence and imprisoned Metropolitan Isidore for some time. Following that incident, the Grand Prince removed Isidore from office and appointed his own man — Jonah. These decisions were not recognised by Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople who continued to recognise Isidore as the canonical metropolitan. As a result, in 1448, Jonah unilaterally changed his title to "Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' " which was tantamount to a declaration of independence of the Church in eastern Rus' from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. All sixteen successive hierarchs of the Metropolis of Moscow and all Rus' were selected by the civil power and installed without the approval of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Successive patriarchs continued to recognize Isidore and his successors as hierarchs of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'.

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign		Notes
1	St. Jonah	File:Jonah Metropolitan.jpg	1448	1461	Installed without the approval of Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople who continued to recognize Isidore until his death in 1458.
2	Theodosius	File:No image.png	3 May 1461	13 September 1464	Became the second Metropolitan to be appointed by the Grand Duke of Moscow. He was not recognised by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
3	St. Philip I	File:Philip of Moscow.jpeg	11 November 1464	5 April 1473
4	St. Gerontius	File:Митрополит Геронтий.jpg	29 June 1473	28 May 1489
5	Zosimus	File:No image.png	26 September 1490	17 May 1494	Removed from the metropolitan throne on charges of heresy
6	Simon	File:Elena Voloshanka's pelena - detail 08.jpg	22 September 1495	30 April 1511
7	Varlaam	File:No image.png	3 August 1511	18 December 1521
8	Daniel Template:Small	File:Metropolitan Daniel of Moscow Engraving.png	27 February 1522	2 February 1539	Deposed by the Shuyskys after the death of de facto regent Elena Glinskaya and the fall of her favorite Ivan Ovchina-Telepnev.
9	St. Joasaphus Template:Small	File:No image.png	6 February 1539	January 1542	Deposed by the Shuysky
10	St. Macarius	File:Metropolitan Macarius.jpg	19 March 1542	31 December 1563
11	Athanasius Template:Small	File:No image.png	5 March 1564	16 May 1566
12	St. Herman Template:Small	File:German of Kazan.jpg	July 1566		Metropolitan-elect. Expelled from Moscow after a dispute with Ivan IV
13	St. Philip II Template:Small	File:Filipp, mitropolitt of Moscow.jpg	25 July 1566	4 November 1568	Deposed and believed to have been later killed by Ivan IV's officials
14	Cyril III (IV) Template:Small	File:No image.png	11 November 1568	8 February 1572
15	Anthony	File:No image.png	May 1572	1581
16	Dionysius II Template:Small	File:No image.png	1581	13 October 1587	Deposed
17	St. Job	File:Patriarch Job of Moscow.jpg	11 December 1587	23 January 1589	Elevated to "Patriarch of Moscow"

Patriarchs of Moscow and all Rus' (1589–1721)

File:5patriarchs.jpg

First five Patriarchs (Job, Hermogenes, Philaret, Joasaphus I, Joseph). 19th century lubok

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign		Notes
1	St. Job	File:Patriarch Job of Moscow.jpg	23 January 1589	June 1605
—	Ignatius	File:Патриарх Игнатий.jpg	30 June 1605	16 May 1606
2	St. Hermogenes	File:Patriarch Germogen (tsarskiy titulyarnik) 2.jpg	3 July 1606	17 February 1612
Seat vacant 1612–1619
3	Filaret Template:Small	File:Philaret.jpg	24 June 1619	1 October 1633	Father of Michael of Russia
4	Joasaphus I	File:Joasaphus I from Tsarsky titulyarnik.jpg	6 February 1634	28 November 1640
Seat vacant 1640–1642
5	Joseph Template:Small	File:Patriarch Iosif.jpg	27 May 1642	15 April 1652
6	Nikon Template:Small	File:Portrait of Patriarch Nikon.jpg	25 July 1652	12 December 1666
—	Pitirim	File:Pitirim.jpg	1658	1667	locum tenens
7	Joasaphus II	File:Joasaphus II from Tsarsky titulyarnik.jpg	31 January 1667	17 February 1672
8	Pitirim	File:Pitirim.jpg	7 July 1672	19 April 1673
9	Joachim Template:Small	File:Icon 02044 Patriarh Ioakim Moskovskij 1620-1690. Neizv. hud. XVII v. Rossiya.jpg	26 July 1674	17 March 1690
10	Adrian	File:Patriarkh Adrian.jpg	26 August 1690	16 October 1700
—	Stefan	File:Stephen Yavorsky.jpg	1700	1721	Locum tenens

Metropolitans and archbishops of Moscow (1721–1917)

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign		Notes
1	Stefan Template:Small	File:Stephen Yavorsky.jpg	1721	1722	President of the Most Holy Synod. Stefan refused to sign the Synod's documents, did not attend its meetings. Peter I apparently appointed him only to give a certain sanction to the new institution.
2	Theophan Template:Small	File:Feofan Prokopovich.jpg	1722	1736	Vice president of the Synod and its prime member since 15 July 1726
Seat vacant 1736–1742
3	Joseph (ru) Volchansky	File:Иосиф (Волчанский).jpg	1 September 1742	10 June 1745	Archbishop of Moscow and Vladimir [1]
4	Plato I (ru) Pavel Malinovsky	File:No image.png	5 April 1748	14 June 1754	Archbishop of Moscow and Sevsk [2]
	Hilarion (ru) Grigorovich (1696–1759)	File:No image.png	1754–1757		Coadjutor
5	Timothy (ru) Tikhon Shcherbatsky (1698–1767)	File:Тимофей (Щербацкий).jpg	22 October 1757	3 January 1767	Metropolitan of Moscow and Kaluga
6	Ambrosius Andrey Sertis-Kamensky (1708–1771)	File:Ambrosius of Moscow.jpg	18 January 1768	16 September 1771	Archbishop of Moscow. Murdered during the Moscow plague riot of 1771
	Samoel (ru)	File:Самуил (Миславский).jpg	1771–1775		Coadjutor
7	Plato II Levshin (1737–1812)	File:Mitropolit Platon.jpg	20 January 1775	13 June 1812	Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna since 1787
Seat vacant 1812–1818
8	Augustine (ru) Alexey Vinogradsky (1766–1819)	File:Августин (Виноградский).jpg	19 February 1818	15 March 1819	Archbishop of Moscow and Kolomna
9	Seraphim (ru) Stefan Glagolevsky (1763–1843)	File:Серафим (Глаголевский).jpg	15 March 1819	19 June 1821	Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna
10	St. Philaret Vasily Drozdov (1783–1867)	File:Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.jpg	15 July 1821	2 December 1867	Archbishop of Moscow and Kolomna, metropolitan since 1826
11	St. Innocent Ivan Veniaminov (1797–1879)	File:St Innocent of Alaska.JPG	5 January 1868	12 April 1879
12	Macarius I Mikhail Bulgakov (1816–1882)	File:Mitropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov).jpg	20 April 1879	21 June 1882
13	Joannicius (ru) Ivan Rudnev (1826–1900)	File:Иоанникий (Руднев).jpg	27 June 1882	17 November 1891
14	Leontius (ru) Ivan Lebedinsky (1822–1893)	File:Леонтий (Лебединский).jpg	17 November 1891	13 August 1893
15	Sergius (ru) Nikolay Lyapidevsky (1820–1898)	File:Сергий (Ляпидевский).jpg	21 August 1893	23 February 1898
16	St. Vladimir Vasily Bogoyavlensky (1848–1918)	File:Владимир (Богоявленский).jpg	5 March 1898	6 December 1912
17	St. Macarius II Mikhail Nevsky (1835–1926)	File:Metropolitan of Moscow Makariy Nevskiy.jpg	8 December 1912	2 April 1917

Patriarchs of Moscow and all Rus' (restored, 1917–present)

No.	Primate	Portrait	Election	Reign			Notes
11	St. Tikhon Template:Small	File:Tikhon of Moscow.jpg	1917–18	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Age in years, months and days
—	Peter Template:Small	File:Митрополит Крутицкий Петр (Полянский). 1925.jpg	—	12 April 1925	December 1925 / 11 September 1936	Template:Age in years years	Metropolitan of Krutitsy, locum tenens
—	Sergius Template:Small	File:Митрополит Сергий (ЖМП).jpg	—	December 1925	27 December 1936	Template:Age in years and months	Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod, acting locum tenens
				27 December 1936	12 September 1943		Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, locum tenens
12	Sergius Template:Small	File:Патриарх Сергий.jpg	1943	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Age in years, months and days
13	Alexy I Template:Small	File:Патриарх Алексий I.jpg	1945	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Age in years, months and days
14	Pimen Template:Small	File:Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and all Rus'.jpg	1971	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Age in years, months and days	During Pimen's reign the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus' was celebrated, and the 1988 Local Council was held in connection with the celebration.
15	Alexy II Template:Small	File:Tema Pühadus Moskva ja kogu Venemaa Patriarh Aleksius II.jpeg	1990	10 June 1990	5 December 2008	Template:Age in years, months and days
16	Kirill Template:Small	File:Patriarch Kirill of Moscow 2021 (cropped).jpg	Template:Interlanguage link	1 February 2009	Incumbent	Template:Age in years, months and days Template:Small

Timeline of patriarchs

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Define $now = {{#time:Y}}

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1589 till:{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50 start:1600 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:1590

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 from: 1589 till: 1605 color:PT text:"St. Job"
 from: 1606 till: 1612 color:PT text:"St. Hermogenes"
 from: 1619 till: 1633 color:PT text:"Filaret"
 from: 1634 till: 1640 color:PT text:"Joasaphus I"
 from: 1642 till: 1652 color:PT text:"Joseph"
 from: 1652 till: 1666 color:PT text:"Nikon"
 from: 1667 till: 1672 color:PT text:"Joasaphus II"
 from: 1672 till: 1673 color:PT text:"Pitirim"
 from: 1674 till: 1690 color:PT text:"Joachim"
 from: 1690 till: 1700 color:PT text:"Adrian"
 from: 1917 till: 1925 color:PT text:"St. Tikhon"
 from: 1943 till: 1944 color:PT text:"Sergius"
 from: 1945 till: 1970 color:PT text:"Alexy I"
 from: 1971 till: 1990 color:PT text:"Pimen"
 from: 1990 till: 2008 color:PT text:"Alexy II"
 from: 2009 till: $now color:PT text:"Kirill"

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See also

• Russian Orthodox Church
  • Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'
• List of heads of the Russian Orthodox Church
• List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Kyiv
• List of current popes and patriarchs
• List of current Christian leaders
• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church