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. About half of the jurisdictions joined the Moscow Patriarchate as the "Archeparchy of the Parishes of Russian tradition in Western Europe" In Russian called Архиепископия западноевропейских приходов русской традиции website of the Russian Orthodox Church. (not part of the Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe), while the remaining jurisdictions joined various other patriarchates aligned with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, such as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of France.
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 , 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. 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. 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.
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
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.
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.
Break of communion between the Moscow Patriarchate and Constantinople
Russian Russian Orthodox Church's Holy Synod issued a statement on September 8, 2018, in response to the launch of the procedure for granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Constantinople Patrairachate, which expressed "strong protest and deep indignation" over the appointment of Archbishop Daniel (Zelinsky) of Pamphilon and Bishop Hilarion (Rudnyk) of Edmonton as exarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine. On September 14, at an extraordinary session, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, having passed a judgment on "retaliatory actions in connection with the appointment of its "exarchs" by the Patriarchate of Constantinople to Kiev within the framework of the "decision on granting Autocephalous status to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine" adopted by the Synod of this Church, decided to suspend "the prayer commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the service", "concelebration with the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople" and "participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in all Episcopal meetings, theological dialogues, multilateral commissions, and other structures that are chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople".Журналы заседания Священного Синода от 14 сентября 2018 года // Patriarchia.ru, 14.09.2018. On 15 October 2018, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, meeting in Minsk, decided to cut all ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate. This decision forbade for any member of the ROC (both clergy and laity) joint participation in all sacraments, including communion, baptism, and marriage, at any church worldwide controlled by Constantinople. Since the archdiocese was at that time part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, this meant a break in communication with it.
The actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople provoked the protest of some clergy and laity of the archdiocese. According to protodeacon John Drobot-Tikhonitsky: "some parishioners simply left our parishes when Constantinople started 'doing its business' in Ukraine: they did not come to take communion, although they did not have another church nearby. This is just a principal position of people." In October 2018, in protest against the actions of the Patriarch of Constantinople in Ukraine, the Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas in Florence withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, moving to the ROCOR. Archpriest George Blatinsky, rector of the church, said: "After the anti-canonical decision made by Patriarch Bartholomew on October 11, we stopped commemorating him. By this decision, Patriarch Bartholomew made the Orthodox Church of Ukraine headed by Metropolitan Onuphrius persecuted." At the General meeting of parishioners, which was attended by more than a hundred people, there was unanimous support for the decision to move to the jurisdiction of the ROCOR.
Abolition of the Exarchate and reaction to it On November 27, 2018, the Synod of the Church of Constantinople decided unanimously to abolish the Archdiocese of Russian churches in Western Europe and reassign its parishes to local metropolises of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This decision, according to the communiqué of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, was "aimed at further strengthening the link of parishes of Russian tradition with the Mother Church of the Patriarchate of Constantinople".Communiqué au sujet des églises orthodoxes de tradition russe en Europe occidentale ec-patr.orgВ Константинополе подтвердили, что распустили Западноевропейский экзархат русских приходов: Этот шаг сделан ради укрепления связи приходов русской традиции с «материнской церковью» Константинополя, отметили во Вселенском патриархате. ТАСС, 28.11.2018. This decision was unexpected for everyone, as it was made without the consent of the archidiocese and even without warning 75-year-old Archbishop John (Renneteau).диакон Александр Занемонец Ответ за Украину. Почему Парижская епархия выбрала воссоединение с РПЦ . carnegie.ru, 23.09.2019. ROC officials responded with a reminder of the 2003 proposal of Alexy II to the AROCWE to move to the Moscow Patriarchate. On the same day, the Synod of the Church of Constantinople announced the convening of a unification council in Kyiv.Александр Занемонец В комплекте с Украиной. Зачем Константинополь упразднил русскую архиепископию в Париже. carnegie.ru, 25.12.2018.
According to the publicist Serey Bychkov, the initiators of this decision were Metropolitan of France and Archbishop Job (Getcha) of Telmissos: "Archbishop Job considered himself insulted when Patriarch Bartholomew removed him several years ago and dismissed him from the post of administrator of the Archdiocese. [...] For Metropolitan Emmanuel, the Archdiocese of Paris was a constant annoyance — he was used to a calm and measured way of life, and the existence of 56 Autonomous and mostly very active Orthodox parishes in France did not give him peace. Both hierarchs did not understand and did not accept the Archdiocese's Charter, according to which the Bishop is elected by clerics and laity. And the parochial statutes of the Archdiocese grant parishioners an incredible freedom, to the point that a misbehaving priest can be replaced at their request. These "ecclesiastical innovations" (although the archdiocese lived for almost 100 years according to the decisions of the local Council of the Russian Church in 1917–18) were incomprehensible to the Greeks"Сергей Бычков ПОСЛЕ СРАЖЕНИЯ. Что осталось от Русской архиепископии в Западной Европе и почему победные реляции РПЦ МП искажают картину . credo.press, 02.10.2019. According to Gueorguy von Rosenschild, President of the "Movement for a local orthodoxy of Russian Tradition in Western Europe", "The revocation of the Tomos of 1999 is explained by the concern to avoid the claims of Ukrainian diasporas, dependent on Mr. Doumenko, who could demand to have, 'like the Russians', an Exarchate. It was urgent to revoke the existing one".Editorial de Octobre 2019 — Une décision salutaire // MOUVEMENT POUR UNE ORTHODOXIE LOCALE DE TRADITION RUSSE en Europe occidentale, 27 octobre 2019
This decision created a legal conflict: as a legal entity within the framework of French law, the archdiocese existed, but as a spiritual entity within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it did not.
On November 28, 2018, the Office of the Diocesan Administration of the archdiocese reported that "on November 27, 2018, the Holy Synod of our Patriarchate decided to abolish the status of our Archdiocese as an Exarchate. This decision of the Holy Synod, [...] was in no way requested by the Archdiocese. His Eminence, Archbishop John, was not consulted prior to this decision" and "learned of this decision during a private meeting with the Patriarch before the meeting of the Holy Synod."Communiqué of November 28, 2018 from the Office of the Diocesan Administration. exarchat.eu.