Photo credit: eurasia.expert
Many years of church split are over, Patriarch Kirill states. He talked about the reunion of the “Russian exarchate” of the Western European parishes with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), TASS reports.
The corresponding decision was announced at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the ROC the day before. Patriarch Kirill called this decision historical, since now the “Russian exarchate” is an integral part of the Russian Church.
Patriarch Kirill recalled that over the years of its existence, the Archdiocese was joined by the descendants of Russian emigrants, as well as by many residents of France, Belgium and other European countries. Its structure has become truly multinational.
The patriarch noted that the October Revolution and the Civil War became the cause of the church division. He called for a lesson to be learned and expressed the hope that political motives would not serve as a trigger for new conflicts.
Russkiy Mir
reported that last month the ROC received an appeal from the head of the “Russian exarchate” Archbishop John (Renneto) and a number of parishes requesting accession to the Moscow Patriarchate. The decision was a response to the abolition of the exarchate by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Synod of the Russian Church responded positively to the appeal of Archbishop John and other clergy of the "Russian exarchate."
According to the ROC, most of the clergy followed their head and also expressed a desire to enter the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The archbishopric will retain all liturgical and pastoral traditions. It will remain autonomous in the field of finance.
Russkiy Mir
