Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) was formed as a jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodoxy as a response against the policy of Bolsheviks with respect to religion in the Soviet Union soon after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and separated from the Russian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1927 after an imprisoned metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) pledged the Church’s qualified loyalty to the Bolshevik state.

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia officially signed the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate on May 17, 2007, restoring the canonical link between the churches.

Canonical territory of ROCOR is divided into nine dioceses: Eastern America and New York (metropolitan), Chicago and Mid-America, San Francisco and Western America, Montreal and Canadian, Australian and New Zealand, South American, Geneva and Western Europe , Berlin and  German, British and Irish.

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia currently has 593 parishes and 51 monasteries for men and women in 43 countries throughout the world, served by 672 clergy. The distribution of parishes is as follows: 194 parishes and 11 monasteries in the United States; 67 parishes and 11 monasteries in the Australian diocese; 48 parishes in Germany; 25 parishes and 3 monasteries in Canada; 22 parishes in Indonesia. ROCOR churches and communities also exist in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Indonesia, Ireland, Palestine, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, South Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela.

There are twelve ROCOR monasteries for men and women in North America, the most important and largest of which is Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York), to which is attached ROCOR’s seminary, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary.

ROCOR also oversees the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, which acts as caretaker to three holy sites in East Jerusalem and Palestine, all of which are monasteries.

The current First Hierarch of  Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia is Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral).

The educational level of the clergy is primarily oriented toward the bachelor’s level of education which is the highest degree available at the church’s single seminary located in Jordanville, New York.