Sergiev Posad, Russia, October 7, 2019
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The Archdiocese of Russian Churches of Western Europe under His Eminence Archbishop John of Dubna, formerly an exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, has been officially received into the Russian Orthodox Church.
“An historic session of the Holy Synod has ended,” writes His Grace Bishop Savva of Zelenograd, The Deputy Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, on his Telegram channel.
The message on Bp. Savva’s Telegram channel
“The Archdiocese of the Western European parishes of the Russian tradition is now an integral part of the Moscow Patriarchate,” he reports, noting that it will continue to its own administrative traditions, as had been proposed to it by the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Synod was scheduled to meet tomorrow, but His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia explained at the beginning of today’s extraordinary session: “Due to the fact that there are issues that need to be discussed right now, we decided not to wait for the scheduled meeting of the Synod.”
Abp. John, the ruling hierarch of the Archdiocese, was received into the Moscow Patriarchate on September 14, and on September 28, a majority of the clergy and parishes of the Archdiocese resolved to join him.
Meanwhile, a group of clergy and laity in France who did not wish to join the Moscow Patriarchate met with Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gaul on Saturday to discuss their future within his metropolis.
