MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2019) Only compliance with the principle of collegial decision-making in regard to what is happening with the church in Ukraine could prevent the dramatic development of events in the Orthodox world, Metropolitan John (Renneteau), who heads the Archdiocese of Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, which has recently been integrated with the Russian Orthodox Church, said on Monday.
Due to the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which recognized the Ukrainian schismatics and granted them a "tomos of autocephaly," the Orthodox world faced the threat of a repetition of the great schism of 1054, when the united Christian world was divided into Orthodox (Eastern) and Roman Catholic (Western) churches.
"What happened in Ukraine shocked the whole Orthodox Church, not only the Russian Church. I had an opportunity to communicate with representatives of other Orthodox churches, and I was able to make sure that everyone was mourning. I must say that no matter what happened to us in the archdiocese, I already had a lot of doubts about what was happening in Ukraine. I very deeply regretted that collegiality did not work," he said.
According to the metropolitan, the observance of the principle of collegiality may allow to prevent "misunderstandings" in order to resolve all issues on the canonical foundations of the church, taking into account historical tradition and the desire of the people of God.
"Some actions that ignore the will of the people of God are often condemned by history," he added.
A delegation of the Archdiocese of Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe ("Russian Exarchate") on November 2-4 takes part in celebrations in Moscow on the occasion of its accession to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Exarchate was founded in 1921, when the interim administration of Russian churches in Western Europe was entrusted to Archbishop Evlogius (Georgievsky). Such a decision was made by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council. Due to historical circumstances, in 1931, parishes headed by Metropolitan Eulogius were temporarily accepted into the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as exarchate.
On November 27, 2018, the Synod of Constantinople decided to dissolve the archdiocese.
On September 14 this year, Archbishop John (Renneteau), the head of the archdiocese, appealed to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow saying that the majority of clergy and laypeople, "supported the draft canonical accession to the Moscow Patriarchate." On the same day, the ROC's Holy Synod decided to integrate Archbishop John with his parishes, in the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. On September 28, a meeting of the archdiocese's clergy was held in Paris, at which the vast majority of clergy confirmed the appeal to join the Russian Orthodox Church.
The archdiocese now comprises about 100 parishes with an estimated population of 100,000.
