LIPOVENI. — Romanian name of a sect of the “Old Believers” or “Raskolniki” Russians who rejected the ritual reforms authorized by the patriarch Nikon of Moscow through a synod in 1654. They arrived in Moldavia at the beginning of the 18th century under their leader Filippo Pustoviat, from whom they took the name Filippoveni or, more briefly, L.
Under this name they also spread into Poland, East Prussia and the Baltic countries. Their centre, however, remained in Bucovina, where as early as 1846 they even had a bishopric at Fântâna Albâ (Belakrinitsa). The first holders of this see, Ambrogio and Cirillo, ordained bishops and priests even for the Old Believers remaining in Russia, where persecution did not cease until 1905.
The L. differ from the “Orthodox” not in doctrine but in religious practice. They use liturgical books prior to Nikon and are very austere, strict, fanatical and traditionalist.