Paris, June 22, 2026
Met. John with Pat. Kirill at the Archdiocese’s reunion with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2019. Photo: patriarchia.ru
The Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe is considering electing auxiliary bishops without the approval of the Moscow Patriarchate.
His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna has circulated a letter to the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese ahead of a diocesan assembly scheduled for June 26–27, in which he proposes proceeding with episcopal elections following three years of silence from Moscow on the matter.
A page of the letter is circulating on social media:
The Archdiocese submitted three candidates for auxiliary bishop to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in 2023. Only one—Igumen Augustine (Macbeth)—was eventually approved, and was consecrated as auxiliary bishop for Great Britain and Scandinavia in December 2025. Moscow hasn’t responded to the other two candidacies despite three reminder letters, according to Met. John.
Met. John cites the growing number of parishes in France, Germany, and Italy, and notes that neither his own age, 83, and health nor those of His Grace Bishop Syméon allow them to provide adequate episcopal coverage across multiple countries. Bishop Elisée is currently barely serving due to health issues. The Metropolitan describes the Archdiocese’s situation as “very precarious pastorally,” complicated by Moscow’s silence.
The Archdiocese Council, meeting on May 22 under Met. John, concluded that three years without a response effectively violates the terms of the 2019 Gramota—the document governing the Archdiocese’s reunion with the Moscow Patriarchate—and paralyzes the mechanism for appointing bishops. The Council is therefore putting a vote to the Assembly on whether to proceed with elections by exceptional procedure. If approved, two candidates originally submitted in 2023—Archimandrite Victor (Crețu) and Archpriest Anatoly Negruta—would be put to a vote.
Met. John points to the Latvian Orthodox Church’s election of a bishop in 2023 without Patriarchal approval, after which it retained canonical communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Significantly, in 2019, Met. John noted that one of the reasons the Archdiocese left the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was its refusal to allow it to elect and consecrate auxiliary bishops—a situation the Archdiocese felt denied it a future. After formally reuniting with the Moscow Patriarchate in November 2019, the Archdiocese was initially permitted to consecrate two auxiliary bishops in June 2020.
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