Schism of the Russian Church

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The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (Russian: раскол, pronounced [rɐˈskoɫ], meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It was triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653, which aimed to establish uniformity between Greek and Russian church practices.