Global InformationJoining of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe to the Moscow Patriarchate information
The joining of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe to the Moscow Patriarchate was the process of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe (AROCWE), formerly part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, entering the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The AROCWE, originally having the status of a metropolis, was founded in 1921 as part of the Moscow Patriarchate by a decree of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow. In 1931, the AROCWE, headed by Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), passed to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and received the status of "temporarily united special exarchate of the Most Holy Patriarchal Ecumenical See on the territory of Europe". In 1965, it declared itself "an independent and self-sufficient Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church of France and Western Europe". From 1971 to 1999, it was affiliated to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of France. From 1999 to 2018, it was the Exarchate of the Orthodox Russian churches in Western Europe under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Although the issue of returning to the Moscow Patriarchate has been raised many times, the process of preparing for the transition of the AROCWE to the Russian Orthodox Church only began after the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople abolished the AROCWE's status of exarchate on November 27, 2018, with the requirement that its parishes join the metropolises of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Archdiocese itself, led by its primate Archbishop John (Renneteau), refused to comply with this requirement and, wishing to continue to preserve its own existence and its own traditions, began to look for ways out of the situation. Various options were proposed for this purpose, but the proposal to join the Moscow Patriarchate received the greatest support. On September 14, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church received Archbishop John (Renneteau) into the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate, entrusting him with the management of the clergy and parishes that wanted to follow him.[1][2] On October 7 of the same year, based on the resolution of the Pastoral assembly of the archdiocese, the Holy Synod of ROC adopted the archdiocese itself.[3] The decision, among other things, determined that the archdiocese would operate within the Moscow Patriarchate with special rights, in particular, "its liturgical and pastoral features, which are part of its traditions", as well as "the historically established features of its diocesan and parish administration, including those established by Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), based on the peculiarities of the existence of the ecclesiastical inheritance headed by him in Western Europe and taking into account certain decisions of the all-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918" are preserved.[4]
The Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western European parishes joined the Russian Orthodox Church on November 2–4, 2019. On November 3, during the Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow presented a Patriarchal and Synodal letter of joining the Moscow Patriarchate to Archbishop John of Dubna and elevated him to the rank of metropolitan[5]
The decision to join the Moscow Patriarchate was not supported by all the clergy and laity of the archdiocese. Some parishes and clerics of the abolished Exarchate joined the local dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as other local Eastern Orthodox churches.[6][7][8]
As of December 2019, the archdiocese comprised 67 monasteries, parishes, and communities, representing 58% of the 115 units that existed at the time of the Exarchate's abolition, which corresponded to the percentage of votes for reunification with the Moscow Patriarchal (58.1%) cast during the archdiocese's Extraordinary General Assembly held in Paris on September 14, 2019.[9]
- ^ "Holy Synod session minutes of September 14, 2019". patriarchia.ru. 14 September 2019.
- ^ "The Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod integrates the head of the Archdiocese of the Western European Parishes of Russian Tradition as well as clergy and parishes who wish to follow him". patriarchia.ru. 14 September 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
orthochristian.com_124465was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "ЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода от 7 октября 2019 года. Журнал № 123". Patriarchia.ru. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
charterwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Rencontre du clergé et des laïcs de l'ancien exarchat à Paris". Официальный сайт Галльской митрополии. 2019-10-05. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
- ^ "Constantinople holds meeting with clergy, laity of Archdiocese of Western Europe who didn't join Moscow Patriarchate". orthochristian.com. 2019-10-07.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
9_468_losewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Опубликована официальная статистика Западноевропейской архиепископии". Благовест-Инфо. Retrieved 2020-01-21.