Leadership & witness
The Apostolic Orthodox Church’s public life is shaped by bishops, clergy, councils and active communities. Leadership is understood as responsibility before Christ and the Church.
Primate
An extraordinary Council session elected Archbishop Grigory as Primate on 29 April 2023. Official AOC publications continued to identify him as Primate in the 2025 Paschal message.
Because church leadership can change, this page follows the latest dated official publication we could verify rather than relying on undated directories.
Soviet-era Orthodox priest, dissident and human-rights advocate. His struggle against state control of religious life remains one of the clearest public roots of the Church’s emphasis on freedom of conscience.
An Orthodox hierarch and religious artist whose earlier ministry crossed several independent Orthodox jurisdictions before the founding of the AOC.
A founding hierarch who led the Church for many years before retiring from primatial office in 2023.
One of the clergy present at the Church’s formative 2000 declaration and early institutional development.
Governance
Current AOC historical materials describe the Church Council as the highest common forum, bringing bishops together with engaged clergy and faithful. Local communities retain real responsibility, while major canonical questions are referred to council sessions.