In Orthodox Russia too, when [[Peter I the Great]] has assumed the Byzantine imperial titles ''Imperator'' and [[Autokrator]], instead of the 'merely' royal Tsar, the idea in founding the [[Russian Holy Synod]] was to put an end to the old ''Imperium in imperio'' of the free Church, by substituting the synod for the all too independent [[Patriarch of Moskow]], who had become almost a rival of the Tsars — Peter meant to unite all authority in himself, over Church as well as State: through his [[Ober-Procuror]] and synod, the Emperor rules his Church as absolutely as his army and navy through their respective ministries; he appoints its members (mostly bishops) just as his generals; and the Russian Governments continued his policy since. | In Orthodox Russia too, when [[Peter I the Great]] has assumed the Byzantine imperial titles ''Imperator'' and [[Autokrator]], instead of the 'merely' royal Tsar, the idea in founding the [[Russian Holy Synod]] was to put an end to the old ''Imperium in imperio'' of the free Church, by substituting the synod for the all too independent [[Patriarch of Moskow]], who had become almost a rival of the Tsars — Peter meant to unite all authority in himself, over Church as well as State: through his [[Ober-Procuror]] and synod, the Emperor rules his Church as absolutely as his army and navy through their respective ministries; he appoints its members (mostly bishops) just as his generals; and the Russian Governments continued his policy since. |