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Diocese of Sourozh

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The '''Diocese of Sourozh''' is the a [[jurisdictiondiocese]] of the [[Church of Russia|Moscow Patriarchate]] in Great Britain and Irelandthe United Kingdom. It The Diocese was founded in 1962 by [[Metropolitan]] [[Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh]] and takes its name from an ancient diocese in the Crimea which no longer has a defunct [[diocesebishop]] in the Crimea. Its The patron [[saint ]] of the diocese is [[Stephen of Sourozh]]. Its temporary The current ruling [[ruling bishop]] is Archbishop His Eminence [[Innokenty Elisey (VasilyevGanaba) of KorsunSourozh]] (head of and the assistant hierarch is Archbishop [[Diocese Anatoly (Kuznetsov) of KorsunKerch|Moscow's diocese in Western EuropeAnatoly of Kerch]]), following the forced retirement of Bishop . The diocese does not have [[Basil (Osborne) of Sergievojurisdiction]]. The assistant hierarch is Archbishop Anatoly over the stavropegic churches of Kerchthe Moscow Patriarchate in Dublin and Manchester.
The Archbishop [[Innocent (Vasilyev) of Vilnius|Innocent (Vasilyev) of Korsun]] (head of Russia's [[Russian Orthodox Diocese of Chersonese|diocese in Western Europe]]) served as the temporary ruling bishop the Diocese of Sourozh following the forced retirement of Bishop [[Basil (Osborne) of Amphipolis|Basil (Osborne) of Sergievo]]. Before Bp. Basil, administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh from 2003 to 2006, was forced into retirement, the diocese has had about thirty [[parish]]es in Great Britain and Irelandthe United Kingdom. It also On [[May 31]], 2010, the [[Holy Synod]] of the [[Church of Russia]] announced the addition of eighteen new parishes to the diocese. [[http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7328]] The diocese publishes a journal, founded by Metr. Anthony in 1980, entitled ''Sourozh''.
==Recent historyHistory==[[Image:Anthony Bloom.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Metr. [[Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh]]]]In the initial decades of the existence of the diocese, the diocese was centred in London and Oxford, consisting mainly of upper middle-class ex-Anglican [[conversion|converts]] and families of the first emigration from Russia following the 1917 revolution. During these years the political situation between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union meant that the Moscow Patriarchate could exercise very little control over the Sourozh diocese. Metr. Anthony's tenureencouraged the development of a distinctive style, he worked to make liturgical practice and ethos within the diocese which reflected the fusion of Franco-Russian emigres and Oxford-London ex-Anglicans in the diocese localized. This included native-language [[Divine Liturgy|liturgy]], that isfrequent communion, discression over confession before each [[communion]], not merely a diocese for relaxed attitude to traditional Russian immigrants, but a church viable dress (e.g. for women: skirts and integrated into British and Irish life. This integration providedheadscarves), among other thingspermission of marriage on Saturdays, for and an increase in avoidance of celebrating the use of English, full hierarchical liturgy according to the local pastoral needs of each standard [[parishtypikon]]of the Russian Orthodox Church.
After MetrFrom the last years of the Soviet Union, large numbers of Russian Orthodox economic migrants arrived in the United Kingdom from the Russian lands. Anthony's death Many were surprised by and were uncomfortable with and unhappy at the idiosyncracies of ethos, style, and liturgical practice which were standard in 2003the diocese. A vocal minority of these Orthodox from Russia began to complain vociferously to the Diocese and, later, to the Moscow Patriarchate itself. In their own eyes, administration they sought the conformity of the ethos and liturgical practice of the diocese was given by with the standard [[Holy Synodtypikon]] of Moscow the Russian Orthodox Church; in the eyes of the Oxford-London ex-Anglicans, this amounted to the [[BishopRussification]] of the diocese. During the lifetime of Metr. Anthony, tensions reached a high-point during the 2002 when suffragan Bishop [[Basil Hilarion (OsborneAlfeyev) of Sergievo]], who had been Anthony's [[auxiliary bishopVienna|auxiliaryHilarion (Alfeyev)]]. He was never named as the ruling bishop suffragan Bishop of the diocese but remained temporary administrator until his removal by Moscow on [[May 9]], 2006Kerch.
After the fall of Communism and breakup of the Soviet UnionShortly before his death, in a major influx of new manner which is not standard in the Russian immigration came into Great Britain. Many of these immigrants found church life in Orthodox Church (where bishops are normally appointed by the diocese to be foreign to them[[Holy Synod]]), owing to its adaptations to British lifeMetr. A vocal minority of these new immigrants began working to re-Anthony nominated as his successor Bishop [[Russification|RussifyBasil (Osborne) of Sergievo]] Sourozh such that conflict began to emerge between those who wished to remain as they had been and those who wished to "regularize" church life according to models elsewhere . After Metr. Anthony's death in 2003, the Russian [[diasporaHoly Synod]]of Moscow appointed Basil administrator of the diocese, but did not name him ruling bishop.
[[Image:Basil Osborne.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Bp. [[Basil (Osborne) of Sergievo]]]]
Tensions between within the establishment of the Diocese of Sourozh worsened considerably in Sourozh and the new voices came to a head years following Metr. Anthony's death. They escalated significantly in April 2006December 2005, when Bp. Basil requested from with the Moscow Patriarchate that he and any in his diocese who wished to follow him be allowed [[canonical releasesuspension]] to enter into the of Fr. [[Ecumenical PatriarchateAndrei Teterin]]by Bishop Basil, on grounds of disobedience, following a speech which Fr. Andrei made, in which he denied that Metr. Anthony was a Father of the Church, specifically asserted that one must be loyal to the authorities of one's own [[Russian Orthodox Exarchate in Western Europejurisdiction]], a diocese of parishes of and insisted that the 'Russian tradition whose bishop answers to Christian movement' should have the Ecumenical Patriarchword 'Orthodox' in its name. The character of the Exarchate is similar After pressure from Moscow, Fr. Andrei was reinstated—although he continued to be an active agent undermining the course charted by Anthony in that its parishes are mainly using local languages and appealing to the cultures episcopal authority of Western EuropeBp. Basil.
Before making the requestMatters came to a head in April 2006, when Bp. Basil provided for , without first consulting his diocese or [[clergy]], wrote to the canonical release [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Patriarch of Moscow]], requesting that he and any of clergy in his diocese who wished to follow him be granted [[clergycanonical release]] who wished to go elsewhereenter into the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]], and about half have petitioned to form a diocese parallel to the [[Greek Russian Orthodox Archdiocese Exarchate in Western Europe]]—a diocese of parishes of Russian tradition whose bishop was under the jurisdiction of Thyateira and Great Britainthe [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] , and received favorable response.[http://www.oca.org/Newswhich used a liturgical style and ethos similar to the early days of Sourozh.asp?ID=1013&SID=19] Basilcited as his motivation (a) the active support of the Moscow Patriarchate's rationale Department of External Church Relations for the request was that group in Sourozh undermining him, something he took to constitute the non-canonical interference of one bishop in the diocese of another; (b) the patriarchate could continue desire to be able to provide adequate pastoral care for those who wished to duplicate Russian church life on British soilcontinue in the earlier ethos and liturgical style of the Sourozh diocese. Shortly after writing to the [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Patriarch of Moscow]], Basil wrote to the Ecumenical Patriarch, while he could care for asking to be received with those clergy who wished to continue life followed him, as it had been under Anthonya diocese in the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Initially, the Patriarch of Moscow, [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Alexei II]], asked to discuss the matter with Basil, but demanded that when he retract his letter discovered Basil had already written to Constantinople, in which he had broached the subject with Ecumenical Patriarch [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) demanded retraction of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]]this letter and refused to meet Basil until he received such retraction. Basil refused to retract the letterand learned soon afterwards that the Moscow Patriarchate intended to retire him.
In response After learning of this intention, but before being retired, Basil issued letters of canonical release to all his clergy, letters either held back from, or backdated to , the request beginning of BpFebruary. Basil, [[Archbishop]] [[Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun]] This was dispatched interpreted by Moscow and read out some as a patriarchal decree at deliberate attempt to sabotage the Sourozh [[cathedral]] in London retiring Basil and placing control diocese, although this matter&mdash;like the canonical validity of the diocese under Innokentyletters themselves&mdash;was contested between the pro-Moscow and pro-Paris Exarchate groups. Basil(Moscow's response objection was that letters of release are given by one bishop to appeal another, releasing a priest from the first bishop's omophorion to the arbitration go under that of the Ecumenical Patriarchsecond bishop; these letters, citing [[canons]] 9 and 17 of however. were (a) given to the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]]clergy themselves, ''en masse'', which grant and (b) did not specify to clergy the right of appeal to Constantinople if what bishop they have a dispute with their superior hierarchwere being released.)<ref>[http://www.ccelsourozh.org/fathers2info/NPNF2-14letters/Npnf2-14-105letter220506.htmhtml Letter of Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun to the clergy of the Diocese of Sourozh 22 May 2006]</ref>
On [[June 8May 9]], 2006, the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia peremptorily announced Basil's retirement. [[Archbishop]] [[Innocent (Vasilyev) of Vilnius|Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun]], as temporary administrator of the diocese, was sent by the Moscow patriarchate to read a patriarchal decree at the Sourozh [[cathedral]] in London retiring Basil and placing control of the diocese under Innokenty. Basil's response was to appeal to the arbitration of the Ecumenical Patriarch, citing [[holy synodcanons]] 9 and 17 of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]], which grant to clergy the right of appeal to the exarch of their diocese or to 'the throne of the imperial city of Constantinople'.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xi.xviii.ix.html Canon IX] and [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xi.xviii.xvii.html Canon XVII] of the Fourth Ecumenical Council</ref> Bishop Basil and his supporters interpreted these canons to demarcate a general ecclesiastical principle that in general a dispute with a superior hierarch may be referred to Constantinople. This interpretation was rejected by Moscow.<ref>[http://www.mospat.ru/archive/31763.htm Священный Синод вынес постановление в связи с решением Константинопольского Патриархата относительно принятия епископа Василия (Осборна) в свою юрисдикцию]</ref> On [[June 8]], 2006, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced that it had considered Basil's appeal and unanimously decided to receive him into its the Russian Orthodox Exarchate in Western Europe as an [[auxiliary bishop]]. It The Holy Synod of the [[Church of Constantinople]] then elected him to this position as the hierarch of his group with the title of ''Bishop of Amphipolis'', serving as an auxiliary of Abp. [[Gabriel (de Vylder) of Komana]]<ref>[http://www.ec-patr.grorg/docdisplay.php?lang=en&id=678&tla=enPress Release for the election of Bishop Basil of Amphipolis] </ref> and having authority over a vicariate of the parishes which have chosen to follow him into the Ecumenical Patriarchate.<ref>[http://www.exarchat.org/articlespip.php3php?id_articlearticle561 Communiqué N° 12-06 of the Council of the Archdiocese]</ref> This represents a reduced acceptance of Basil's request (which was to be received as a diocesan bishop of a diocese ''alongside'' the Franco-Russian exarchate). Moreover, Constantinople's pronouncement was based not merely on the two canons cited by Bishop Basil in his appeal, but also by canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the canon which, according to the Patriarchate of Constantinople's interpretation, grants jurisdiction of all 'barbarian' lands (i.e. all lands outside canonically defined territories) to Constantinople, an interpretation that has been disputed by Moscow.  On [[October 6]], 2006, the Holy Synod in Moscow announced that Archimandrite [[Elisey (Ganaba) of Sourozh|Elisey (Ganaba)]], who was head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, was to be [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] Bishop of Bogorodsky, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Korsun, with responsibility for the administration of the Diocese of Sourozh.<ref name=563sourozh2>http://sourozh.org/info/docs/synod061006_111_en.html</ref> On [[December 27]], 2007, Bp. Elisey was appointed the ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh and on [[February 2]], 2010 he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop. ==Ruling bishops==*[[Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh|Anthony (Bloom)]] 1957 - 2003*[[Elisey (Ganaba) of Sourozh|Elisey (Ganaba)]] 2007- Present ==References==<references />
==External links==
*[http://www.sourozh.org/ Official diocesan website], under Abp. Innokenty**[http://www.sourozh.info/ Sourozh.info], including news, information and statements from Abp. Innokenty*[http://www.dioceseinfo.org/ Dioceseinfo.org], including news, information and statements by those loyal to Bp. Basil (Osborne)**[http://wwwen.dioceseinfowikipedia.org/HISTORICAL_BACKGROUND/Sourozh/Statutes.htm Diocesan statutes]**[http://www.dioceseinfo.org/HISTORICAL_BACKGROUNDwiki/Diocese_of_Sourozh ''Diocese of Sourozh/Annual%20Report%20(2005).pdf 2005 Annual report of the diocese]*[http://www.cathedral.sourozh.org/ Cathedral website]*[http://users.ox.ac.uk/~manc0343/canons_sourozh.html On the canonical situation of Russian Orthodoxy in Britain], by [[M.C. Steenberg]'' at Wikipedia]
[[Category:Dioceses|Sourozh]]
[[Category:Moscow Patriarchate Dioceses|Sourozh]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in the United Kingdom|Sourozh]]
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