Eulogius (Georgiyevsky)

Yevlogy Georgiyevsky
metropolitan of Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church
Successor	Vladimir Tikhonicky
Personal details
Born	April 10, 1868 Russia
Died	April 8, 1946 Paris, France

Eulogius of Paris (Russian: Евлогий, born Vasily Semyonovich Georgiyevsky; April 10, 1868–April 8, 1946, Paris) was an Eastern Orthodox archbishop and metropolitan of, at various times, the Moscow Patriarchate, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate who led elements of the Russian Orthodox diaspora in Western Europe from 1921 until his death. From 1931, he was head of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe.

At a time when Russian Orthodox Christians based outside Russia and those who fled there from the communist regime following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 found themselves in a difficult situation, Eulogius was appointed by Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow in 1921 to head the ‘Provisional administration of the Russian parishes in Western Europe’.

During the early 1920s the vast majority of Russian Orthodox abroad, united by their opposition to the Soviet government, were members of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), in whose synod Eulogius sat. In 1927 Eulogius broke with the ROCOR (along with Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York, leader of the Russian Metropolia in America) and was subsequently condemned by them, splitting the Russian émigré community in Western Europe.

In 1928, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), then locum tenens of the Patriarchate of Moscow, demanded declarations of loyalty to the Soviet regime, a proposition which Eulogius initially supported but subsequently repudiated. In 1930, after taking part in a prayer service in London in supplication for Christians suffering under the Soviets, Eulogius was removed from office by Sergius and replaced. Most of Eulogius' parishes remained loyal to him, however, as they were generally against the Soviet government. Eulogius then petitioned Ecumenical Patriarch Photius II to be received under his canonical care by virtue of the canons of the Council of Chalcedon. He and his community were received in 1931, becoming an exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In 1945, shortly before his death, Eulogius led the exarchate in a return to the Moscow patriarchate. However, after his death, Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov) of Western Europe was appointed the new exarch by the Moscow Patriarchate. A large number of parishes, opposed to Seraphim, once again entered the Patriarchate of Constantinople at this point, forming the basis of the exarchate which continues to this day.

External Links

OrthodoxWiki Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris