renameuser, Administrators
5,600
edits
Changes
m
moving the pic
{{westernrite}}[[Image:Kovalevsky-Maximovitch.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Bp. [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis]] and St. [[John Maximovitch]] in 1964]]
The '''Orthodox Church of France''' (''l'Eglise Orthodoxe de France'' or ''l'Eglise Orthodoxe Catholique de France'', a.k.a. ''l'ECOF'') was a group of [[Western Rite]] parishes in France formed under the auspices of [[Vladimir Lossky]] and [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis|Evgraph Kovalevsky]] in the 1930s and 1940s. It has suffered several internal breaks, and the main extant body is now known as the '''''Union des Associations Cultuelles Orthodoxes de Rite Occidental''''' (UACORO) (the Union of Western Rite Orthodox Worship Associations).
After 1946, the Eglise Orthodoxe de France (Orthodox Church of France) was developed by Kovalevsky specifically with the intention to restore the ancient [[Gallican Rite|Gallican usage]] of the pre-[[Charlemagne|Carolingian]] Roman rite, basing his work on the letters of St. [[Germanus of Paris|Germanus]], a 6th century [[bishop]] of Paris. During this troubled period, the Orthodox community in Paris went through several [[jurisdiction]] changes, but eventually Fr. Alexis returned to the [[Church of Russia]] and was consecrated to the episcopacy in 1960, continuing his Western Rite work under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate.
[[Image:Kovalevsky-Maximovitch.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Bp. [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis]] and St. [[John Maximovitch]] in 1964]]After some years of isolation, Kovalevsky's group came under the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] between 1959 and 1966, and Kovalevsky himself was consecrated with the title of Bishop [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis|Jean-Nectaire de Saint-Denis]] in 1964. During this time, the Eglise Orthodoxe de France received considerable encouragement from St. [[John Maximovitch]] (who was ROCOR's representative in Western Europe at the time), and his death in 1966 was a serious blow to these French Orthodox Christians, who had enjoyed an influential and holy advocate in St. John.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Patriarchate's Western rite withered and came to an end, but Bishop Jean's church continued to thrive, though after St. John's death in 1966, they were again in canonical limbo. Bishop Jean died in 1970, and then in 1972 the [[Church of Romania]] took the Eglise Orthodoxe de France under its [[omophorion]]. Gilles Bertrand-Hardy was consecrated as Bishop [[Germain (Bertrand-Hardy) of Saint-Denis|Germain de Saint-Denis]], and the restored Gallican rite became the regular liturgy used in the many small French Orthodox [[parish]]es established throughout France. The full splendor of that liturgy can be seen in the Cathedral of St. Irénée in Boulevard Auguste-Blanqui in Paris. In 1994, after a lengthy conflict with the Romanian Holy Synod regarding alleged canonical irregularities, the Church again found itself in canonical limbo with the deposition of Bishop Germain and the withdrawal of Romania's protection for the Church. The Romanian patriarchate established a [[deanery]] under Bishop Germain's brother Archpriest Gregoire to minister to those parishes which chose to stay with Romania.
