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The '''Diocese of Sourozh''' is a [[diocese]] of the [[Church of Russia|Moscow Patriarchate]] in the United Kingdom. It 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 bishop. Its patron saint is [[Stephen of Sourozh]]. Its temporary [[ruling current bishop]] is Archbishop [[Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun]] (head of Russia's [[Diocese of Korsun|diocese in Western Europe]]), following the forced retirement of Bishop His [[Basil Elisey (OsborneGanaba) of SergievoSourozh]]. The assistant hierarch is Archbishop [[Anatoly (Kuznetsov) of Kerch|Anatoly of Kerch]]. The diocese does not include the stavropegic Moscow Patriarchate churches of Dublin or Manchester.

Archbishop [[Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun]] (head of Russia's [[Russian Orthodox Diocese of Chersonese|diocese in Western Europe]]) served as its temporary ruling bishop following the forced retirement of Bishop [[Basil (Osborne) of Amphipolis|Basil (Osborne) of Sergievo]]. Before Bishop Basil , Administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh from 2003 to 2006, was forced into retirement, the diocese had about thirty [[parish]]es in the United Kingdom. Also before Basil's retirement, the diocese published a journal, founded by Metr. Anthony in 1980, entitled ''Sourozh''. The activities of the journal are currently suspended.

Tensions between the establishment in Sourozh worsened considerably in the years following Metr. Anthony's death. They began to escalate significantly in December 2005, with the suspension of Fr. [[Andrei Teterin]] by Bishop Basil, on grounds of disobedience, following a speech which Fr. Andrei made, in which he denied that Metropolitan Anthony was a Father of the Church, asserted that one must be loyal to the aurthorities authorities of one's own [[jurisdiction]], and insisted that the 'Russian Christian movement' should have the word 'Orthodox' in its name. After pressure from Moscow, Fr. Andrei was reinstated - —although he continued to be an active agent undermining the local episcopal authority of Bp. Basil.

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 beginning of February. This has been interpreted by some as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the diocese, although this matter&mdash;like the canonical validity of the letters themselves&mdash;is contested between the pro-Moscow and pro-Paris Exarchate groups. (Moscow's objection was that letters of release are given by one bishop to another, releasing a priest from the first bishop's omophorion to go under that of the second bishop; these letters however were (a) given to the clergy themselves, ''en masse'', and (b) did not specify to what bishop they were being released.)<ref>[http://www.sourozh.org/info/letters/letter220506.htmlLetter of Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun to the clergy of the Diocese of Sourozh 22 May 2006]</ref>

[[Archbishop]] [[Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun]] was sent by the patriarchate to read out 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 [[canons]] 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/fathers2ccel/NPNF2-14schaff/Npnf2-14-105npnf214.xi.xviii.ix.htmhtml 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 have interpreted these canons to demarcate a general ecclesiastical principle that in general a dispute with a superior hierarch may be referred to Constantinople.<ref>[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrthodoxNews/message/5538 On the canonical situation of Russian Orthodoxy in Britain], no longer available at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~manc0343/canons_sourozh.html] </ref> This interpretation is rejected by Moscow.<ref>[http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=31763Священный Синод вынес постановление в связи с решением Константинопольского Патриархата относительно принятия епископа Василия (Осборна) в свою юрисдикцию]and [http://www.sourozh.org/archives/docs/synod190706a_en.html The Declaration of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church relating to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople concerning the reception into its jurisdiction of Bishop Basil (Osborne)]</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 Russian Orthodox Exarchate in Western Europe as an [[auxiliary bishop]]. It then elected him to this position 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_article=563article561 Communiqué N° 12-06 of the Council of the Archdiocese] </ref> This represents only a partial 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 jurisdication jurisdiction of all 'barbarian' lands (i.e. all lands outside canonically-defined territories) to Constantinople. (The interpretation of this canon is also disputed by Moscow.) The significance of the addition of this canon is at present unclear.

*[http://www.sourozh.org/ Official diocesan website], under Abp. Innokenty**[http://wwwen.sourozhwikipedia.infoorg/ wiki/Diocese_of_Sourozh ''Diocese of Sourozh.info'' at Wikipedia], including news, information and statements from Abp. Innokenty