http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/?act=news&id=126331
A Google Translate-machine transcription follows, thus, some parts are very vague. If any speaker of Russian would like to clarify this rough translation, his or her help would be appreciated.
15 June 2017, 19:53
The Synod of the CPI (R) began preparations for the suspension of the authority of Metropolitan Raphael as the head of the Church and elected him locum tenens"Beginning work on the suspension of the authority of His Holiness the Archbishop of Moscow, Metropolitan of All-Russian Raphael (Motovilov)" as the head of the centralized religious organization of the True Orthodox Church (CPI (R)), the Synod of this Church decided to meet at its next meeting in the Synodal House on Radio Street Moscow on June 12, the correspondent of "Portal-Credo.Ru" reports.
In addition to Metropolitan Raphael, the meeting was attended by Metropolitans of the North Caucasus and Black Sea Andrey (Davidov), St. Petersburg and Murmansk John (Abramenko), Solnechnogorsk and Klin Mark (Voinov), Bishop Arkhangelsky and Neglinsky Arseniy (Moseykov). The meeting was also attended by Archimandrite Vikenty (Panteleyev), the head of the Chancellery of the CPI (R).
Opening the meeting, the head of the CPI (R) announced the need to "end the authority of the administrative leadership of the Church" in order to concentrate the opportunities for spiritual improvement and concrete activities along the path of spiritual growth of believers with a large expansion and strengthening of the Orthodox community under the motto "flock without borders" . According to experts, such a complex wording can mean the CPI (P) leadership's decision to abandon its independent jurisdictional existence due to the systematic persecution that it has been subjected to since the year 2015 when the Church's publications were recognized in the Russian Federation as "extremist materials", and the Ministry of Justice demanded the replacement of the Church leader If it wishes to retain the status of a legal entity.
The final decision on the termination of the authority of Metropolitan Raphael will be made by the Bishops' Council of the CPI (R), appointed on September 18. The locum tenens of the primate of the CPI (P) are Metropolitan Tikhon (Kiselev) of Penza and Simbirsk. On October 14, the tonsure of Metropolitan Raphael is scheduled for the great schema, which will be performed by the non-named inhabitants of the Holy Mountain Athos.
The Synod refused Archbishop Joseph (Anufriev) in his petition for admission to the CPI (R). At the same time, the rector of the church in the village of Nizhne Gerasimivka of the so-called "Lugansk People's Republic" priest, Theodosius Storozhko, who was appointed governor of the Luhansk Deanery, was admitted to this jurisdiction. It is assumed that some of the radical-minded clerics "LNR" and "DNR" may partake in this deanery, from which the local structures of the Moscow Patriarchate would like to dissociate themselves. The clergy of the Moscow diocese of the CPI (R) received priests Vladimir Ermolaev and Evfimiy Oluhov. Bishop of Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye Grigory (Korzhevsky) was elevated to the rank of archbishop. The Synod forbade the priest of the Altai community of the CPI (R) priest Dimitri Manchenko, who transferred to another jurisdiction.
Not only Met. Rafael, but also the ROAC, RTOC, the Kallinikites (under Archbishop Agafangel) ,and other Russian True Orthodox Synods are facing severe persecution if they are not under the MP. It is for this very reason that the GOC under Archbishop Stephanos who has parishes in Russia must operate as catacomb churches due to this persecution.
