"Royal" authority

The sole head of the Church is Jesus Christ, whose teaching is carefully preserved in its entirety by the Orthodox Church. The Russian emperor, to the extent that he follows this teaching is as much a son of the Church as any other Orthodox Christian. At no time and in no place has the Church ever given him authority over her teaching or considered him her head... If the Russian emperor is not the head of the Church for Russians, much less is he the head of the Church for us. For us he is no more than a brother in faith as are all Russians who share our faith.
St. Nikolaj (Kasatkin) of Japan

Speaking of Russia... I'm leaving today for an extended stay in that locale; I have established a blog to catalogue: Recounting Rus

Let the Heavens rejoice!

The Russian Church, having gone through the crucible of persecution, and having co-suffered with Christ, conquered the division.
Patriarch Alexey II

Патриархия.RU