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Orthodox Church of France

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The '''Orthodox Church of France''' (''l'Eglise Orthodoxe de France'', formerly ''l'Eglise Catholique Orthodoxe Catholique de France'', a.k.a. or ''l'ECOF'') is an autonomous diocese of [[Western Rite]] parishes in France formed in 1936 by the [[Church of Russia]]. The Orthodox Church of France is currently functions as an independent body, and is not neither recognized by nor in communion with any of the [[List of autocephalous and autonomous churches|autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox Churches in communion with the ancient patriarchates]].
==History==
In 1937, the [[Church of Russia]] received a small group under the former Liberal Catholic bishop, Louis-Charles (Irénée) Winnaert (1880-1937), dubbing them ''l'Eglise Orthodoxe Occidentale'' ("Western Orthodox Church"). Upon his repose, the leadership of the Church was turned over to [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis|Evgraph Kovalevsky]] (1905-1970). Also in the French Church were [[Denis (Chambault)|Lucien Chambault]], who oversaw a small Orthodox [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine ]] community in the rue d'Alleray in Paris (as Pére Denis), and the former Benedictine monk, Archimandrite [[Alexis van der Mensbrugghe]] (1899-1980), who favorably viewed the restoration of the ancient Roman rite cleansed of medieval accretions and supplemented by Gallican and Byzantine interpolations. In 1948, he published his ''Liturgie Orthodoxe de Rite Occidental'' and in 1962 the ''Missel Orthodoxe Rite Occidental''.
Fr Evgraph worked for several years on restoring the ancient rite of the Gauls, which came to be known as the [[Divine Liturgy according to St Germanus of Paris]]. After the French church broke with Moscow to preserve the Western character of its liturgy, Archimandrite Alexis remained with the [[Church of Russia]] and was consecrated to the episcopacy in 1960, continuing his Western Rite work under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In 1993, after a long conflict with the Romanian holy synod regarding canonical irregularities, the Romanian Synod withdrew its blessing from and broke communion with the church, which again found itself in isolation from other Orthodox Churches. The Romanian patriarchate established a [[deanery]] under Bishop Germain's brother Archpriest Gregoire to minister to those parishes formed by the priests and laity that chose to stay with Romania.
In 2001, after the scandal caused by the revelation inside the Church of the marriage of Bishop Germain in 1995 (which was later legally annulled), some priests and parishes led by Archpriest Jean-Pierre Pahud left the the Church of France and formed the ''Union des Associations Cultuelles Orthodoxes de Rite Occidental'' (UACORO) (the Union of Western Rite Orthodox Worship Associations). Many of these have subsequently been received on an individual basis into the Church of Serbia in 2006. In the same year, the independent [[Orthodox Church of the Gauls]] was formed by a group that years earlier had left the Church of Franceand come under the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. ==Sources==*Vincent Bourne, ''La divine contradiction: l'avenir catholique orthodoxe de la France'' (1975). ISBN 9782850800030. Bourne was the ''nom-de-plume'' of Madmae Yvonne Winnaert (1907-1997, the widow of Louis-Charles (Irénée) Winnaert. *Maxime Kovalevsky, ''Orthodoxie et Occident: renaissance d'une Eglise locale'' (1994).ISBN 9782908986297
==External links==
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