Constantinople and Moscow at odds over France

Paris, June 8, (Interfax) - The Moscow Patriarchate Diocese of Korsun accuses the Constantinople Church in actions that constitute a threat to the Orthodoxy in France.

"At the same time there are also real threats to Orthodoxy in France, which make us all think deeply over its future as we see increasingly alarming tendencies," says the Message of the Diocese of Korsun to the Secretariat of the 4th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference opened on June 6 in Chambesy, Switzerland, published by Interfax-Religion.

For the last several decades, two Orthodox jurisdictions are operative in France which both refer to themselves as Russian - the Moscow Patriarchate Diocese of Korsun and the Exarchate of Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe governed by the Constantinople Church.

"Throughout the recent years we have seen a growing tendency of one jurisdiction's (the Constantinople - IF) dominance at the expense of the principle of conciliarity inherent in the Orthodox Church," the Message of the Diocese of Korsun reads.

The reason for this Message was the refusal of Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis (pictured left), head of The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in France, (the Constantinople Patriarchate) to include a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in this body.

In this regard, the document states that the Assembly "becomes ever more a tool for one jurisdiction to achieve its own goals, as its representative is the Assembly's permanent chairman."

The Diocese of Korsun says it's necessary that the chairman of the Assembly "should be elected by all its members since it is in the interests of all the Orthodox Churches. This will ensure a successful and fruitful coordination work of Orthodox Assemblies."

The authors of the Message expressed hope that the participants of the 4th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference would address the challenges existing in the Orthodox world of France.

Participants of the 4th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference in Chambesy will touch upon the topic of organizing Orthodox diaspora (Orthodox believers living out of borders of any local Orthodox Church).

Several centuries had passed after the last seventh Ecumenical Council and there are a lot of questions that need all-church solution for the sake of strengthening unity and avoiding schisms in one Orthodox Church.

To settle these questions it is planned to hold the Holy and Great Council of the Eastern Orthodox Church in foreseeable future.

It was decided to get ready for the Great Council by way of convening all-Orthodox pre-council consultations and inter-Orthodox preparatory commissions.