Châlette-sur-Loing, Loiret, France, June 17, 2025
Photo: archeveche.eu
Another Russian Orthodox church in France has reached its centenary this year.
The Holy Trinity Parish in Montargis/Châlette-sur-Loing, located in the Loiret department in north-central France, marked its 100th anniversary on June 8, with a special pastoral visit from His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna, who leads the Moscow Patriarchate’s Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe.
Last month, the Resurrection of Christ Church in the Meudon suburb of Paris celebrated its 100th anniversary, followed shortly after by the Resurrection of Christ Church in the city of Belfort in northeastern France.
The latest celebration took place on Pentecost Sunday, with Met. John presiding over the Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Church alongside several clergy members, including Archpriest André Svynarov, vice-rector of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris and rector of the Holy Trinity Parish in Montargis, and Archpriest Vasile Sevciuk, the parish's serving priest, the Archdiocese reports.
At the entrance to the church, Met. John was welcomed with the traditional bread and salt by the church’s children, parish council members, and local Cossacks.
Photo: archeveche.eu
During the Liturgy, Met. John tonsured a reader for the parish. In his homily, the Metropolitan encouraged the faithful to welcome the Holy Spirit into their hearts and develop its gifts through love and attentiveness to others in daily life.
The celebration concluded with the blessing of two commemorative plaques—one marking the church’s centenary and another honoring General Alexander Pavlovich Kutiepov, president of the Union of Russian Combatants, who received Communion at this parish on November 3, 1929, before his fatal abduction by the NKVD in Paris on January 26, 1930. Met. John also blessed the church’s new fence in the presence of a municipal representative.
The day ended with a generous buffet offered by parishioners to all attendees in the church garden, highlighting the strong community spirit that has sustained this Russian Orthodox parish for a full century in the heart of the Loiret department.
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The 1917 Russian Revolution triggered a major emigration of Russians to Western Europe. Many settled in the Montargis region, drawn by employment opportunities at the Hutchinson Company in Châlette-sur-Loing.
From 1925 to 1933, Orthodox worship was conducted in a wooden barracks lent by the company, adjacent to the factory where most local Russians worked. When Hutchinson decided to demolish this building in late 1933, they donated it to the Russian community, who dismantled it and used the recovered materials to construct the current church on a small plot they purchased at 54 rue Gaston Jaillon in Vésines. The church was consecrated on August 26, 1934, by His Eminence Archbishop Evlogy.
In the early years, Frs. Spassky and Tsérétéli came to celebrate major feast day Liturgies and gradually established the parish.
The parish’s first resident priest was Archpriest Fedor Karakouline (1925-1937), a former military chaplain who had served with General Drozdov’s units during the civil war. After a brief interim period under Hieromonk Cyril, Archpriest Jacob Protopopoff served from December 1, 1938, until his death on July 28, 1965.
Various clergy have served over the decades since then, including Fr. Milos Zegarac from the Serbian Church (1979-1995) and several others from different Orthodox traditions. The current priest, Fr. André Berega, has served since October 26, 2003.
The choir is composed mainly of descendants of the 1917 Russian emigrants.
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