1996 Moscow–Constantinople schism
In 1996 a schism between Moscow and Constantinople occurred; this schism began on 23 February 1996, when the Russian Orthodox Church severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and ended on 16 May 1996 when the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate reached an agreement.
| Date | 23 February 1996 – 16 May 1996 |
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| Type | Christian schism |
| Cause | Decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to reestablish the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church as their autonomous church |
| Participants | Main: Ecumenical Patriarchate, Russian Orthodox Church Minor: Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate |
| Outcome | 1.The Russian Orthodox Church severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate for less than three months 2. Still tensions between the EAOC and the EOCMP after the schism ended |
| Part of a series on the |
| Eastern Orthodox Church |
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| Overview |
This excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church was done in response to a decision of the synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to reestablish an Orthodox church in Estonia under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's canonical jurisdiction as an autonomous church on 20 February 1996. This schism has similarities with the Moscow–Constantinople schism of October 2018.
On 8 November 2000, in an official statement, the Russian Orthodox Church described this schism as "the tragic situation of February–May 1996, when, because of the schismatic actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Estonia, Orthodox Christians of the Churches of Constantinople and Russia, who live all over the world in close spiritual contact, were deprived of common Eucharistic communion at the one Chalice of Christ."