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History of Russian Orthodox church property outside Russia 1997-2006
In April 2001, Metropolitan Kirill (head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department of External Relations) stated at a meeting on the subject “Religion and Diplomacy” held in Moscow that the Moscow Patriarchate “acts today in close cooperation” with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “re-establish historical justice with the aim of returning to the Motherland her architectural and historical treasures which have been built by Russian artists and with money of the Russian people”. .. “If an Orthodox church building abroad used to belong to the Russian Church" he said, "and if this is legally proven, it must become again the property of our Church. If it was in former times on the registry of State property, it must return to the State” (published in “Tserkov’i vremia”). Some buildings were specifically mentioned at the time: the Russian Orthodox churches in Nice, Paris, Biarritz.
Here is an overview of actions were undertaken concerning church property outside Russia by the Moscow Patriarchate inthe last 9 years. They are given in reverse date order (most recent first).
NICE, France (2006)
In February, a bailiff (huissier) of the Nice court, accompanied by representatives of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Nice, came to the cathedral to implement the local Court’s ruling that an inventory of the contents and property of the Cathedral be made on behalf of the Russian Federation. Permission to enter the Cathedral, property of the local parish and registered as such under French law, was refused and in April the higher court denied the right of the Russian Federation to make this inventory. In fact, the French Ministry of Culture had just previously completed a very full inventory of the icons, wall paintings and other items in the building as part of the registration of the Cathedral as a historical monument.
For an update see the report on the meeting of the Council of the Archdiocese, December 2006.
BIARRITZ, France (2004)
Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun (the Bishop of MP who now, on 14th May 2006, has been named Administrator of the Sourozh Diocese in the UK and who heads the commission of enquiry into the affairs of Sourozh) announced on 27 December 2004 that he had accepted the Russian Orthodox church in Biarritz into his jurisdiction, moving it from the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Russian tradition under the Ecumenical Patriarch and headed by Archbishop Gabriel. On 16 December Archbishop Gabriel had removed the local priest from his post and had put him under interdiction to celebrate. Disregarding this decree, the priest invited new members to join the ruling body of the parish and called a number of meetings which were not in accordance with the legal procedures. The legally constituted parish council started a lawsuit and the French courts (first the local court, then the Court of Appeal) confirmed that the church had to be returned to its legitimate owners, reinstating the situation as before 26th December 2004 (the day before Archbishop Innokenty’s taking over).
Archbishop Gabriel expressed deep regret at the parish having been forced to go to court, also at the refusal of the representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate in France to consider negotiations. He particularly regrets that the leadership of Korsun decided to go against the measures taken by himself in this parish which belongs to his jurisdiction, thereby exacerbating the trouble which had arisen in the local community.
CHARLEROIS, Belgium (2003)
The local parish of the same Diocese as Biarritz had been served for several years by a priest from Moscow, with the blessing of Archbishop Sergius who headed this Diocese. On the death of Archbishop Sergius, this priest, with the help of new members of the Parish Council, presided over the transfer of this parish to the Moscow Patriarchate jurisdiction.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (2002)
President Putin, on the occasion of his official visit to Hungary, was received on 1st March 2006 by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev) in the Orthodox cathedral in Budapest. The Bishop recounted the history of the cathedral, built at the end of the 18th century by “representatives of different ethnic groups, notably Greeks, Macedonians, Albanians and Hungarians” and underlined that this church “would certainly have disappeared if she had not moved under the Moscow Patriarchate in 1949”. The Bishop also recounted the lawsuits of the 1990s by which the courts, having examined the claims of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate, adjudged the building to Moscow. Bishop Hilarion, stating that the visit of the Russian President was important for Orthodox “of various origin” living in Hungary, added that “this meeting is even more important for the Russian faithful who, while living abroad, maintain a link with their motherland and see (the Russian President) as their President, Your visit is a great moral support for them”, said the Bishop.
Other Orthodox churches in Hungary are currently the subject of lawsuits between the same parties.
ROME, Italy (2000)
The local parish of St Nicolas moved to the Moscow Patriarchate in October 2000 in difficult circumstances, at the initiative of the local priest. However, a magnificent new building has just been erected in high Russian style in the gardens of the Russian Embassy in Rome. The site was formally opened in 2000 by Archbishop Innokenty and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Metropolitan Kirill has just consecrated the building in the presence of personal representatives of President Putin.
HOLY LAND (2000)
On 15 January, the Moscow Patriarchate has taken possession of the Priory of Jericho, after an intervention of the Palestinian police. The monks and novices were expelled.
BARI, Italy (1998)
The Moscow Patriarchate has agreed with the local administration the takeover of the Orthodox church and the house of Russian pilgrims on Bari, which were run by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). The local administration are the legal owners of the property, the building of which had been started to house the numerous Russian pilgrims to the tomb of St Nicolas of Myra in 1911 but completed in 1925 after the Revolution. The émigrés could not cover all the costs and therefore the building became the property of the municipality, but is was used by the Orthodox under ROCOR administration.
The contract of the municipality with the Moscow Patriarchate grants MP a free and unlimited use of the church (on the 3rd floor), an office and a flat. This has immediately been declared to be the official headquarters of the Moscow Patriarchate in Italy.
The municipality allows ROCOR to use a chapel on the 1st floor and intends to use the rest of the property as an old people’s home.
We do not know where the numerous pilgrims will be housed.
HOLY LAND (1997)
On 5th July 1997, with the help of Palestinian police, the Moscow Patriarchate took possession of the monastery of Abraham’s Oak. Reports mentioned the use of violence, with some monks sustaining injuries.
GERMANY (1990-2000)
In the 1990s, the Moscow Patriarchate started a series of court cases against ROCOR, claiming ownership of several churches which had been built in Germany by the Russian Royal family. These court cases have been “frozen” in 2004 as a sign of appeasement when negotiations between the two jurisdictions began.
2006, United Kingdom
We now have an entirely novel situation in the UK where the dispute affects a Diocese which was directly under the Moscow Patriarchate but insists on living an Orthodox life which does not fit exactly into the current Moscow pattern.
Compiled from materials published by Glaube in der 2 Welt (Zurich), Service Orthodoxe de Presse (Paris), Tserkov’ i vremia (Moscow) and various other Russian publications.
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