Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church

1. The church institutions in the distant abroad (hereinafter called ‘institutions located abroad’) shall be dioceses, deaneries, parishes, stavropegic and diocesan monasteries, as well as missions, representations and church representations located outside the borders of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic countries.

2. The higher church authority shall exercise its jurisdiction over these institutions through the Department for External Church Relations.

3. The institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church located abroad shall be guided in its governance and activities by the present Statute and by their own Statutes, which must be approved by the Holy Synod with respect to the laws operating in each country.

4. The institutions located abroad shall be established and abolished by the decision of the Holy Synod. The representations and church representations located abroad shall be stavropegic.

5. The institutions located abroad shall carry out their ministry in accordance with the aims and tasks of foreign activities of the Russian Orthodox Church under the authoritative supervision of the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations.

6. The heads and executives of the institutions located abroad shall be appointed by the Holy Synod on the presentation from the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations.