96 South Broadway
On March 31, 2025, a federal court ruled in favor of our client, 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. Along with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, we successfully defended ROCOR’s freedom to select, discipline, and remove its leaders without judicial interference. “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.
Read the full decision here: Belya v. Kapral (ROCOR)