The Scandinavian deanery of the Western European Archdiocese of Orthodox parishes of the Russian tradition ceased to exist. This was announced in the issue of Lettre du vicariate, posted on the website orthodoxie on behalf of the metropolis of France, the Church of Constantinople.

As explained, after the announcement of the Patriarch of Constantinople that he “dissolves” the Archdiocese, many parishes in this exarchate were at a loss and could not determine their future. For some parishes in Scandinavia it was impossible to remain under the jurisdiction of the Phanar, however, they could not join the ROC due to the fact that they were afraid of losing some parishioners for various reasons. Therefore, many parishes of the Archdiocese in Scandinavia have chosen jurisdictions that remain in communication both with the ROC and the Phanar.

Three parishes of the mission, two in Norway and one in Sweden, remained under the jurisdiction of Constantinople and transfered to the Metropolitan of Sweden and Scandinavian Cleopas.

The parish of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Stockholm and the Protection of the Mother of God in Copenhagen, as well as the missionary communities associated with them, join the Bulgarian Church – more precisely, its foreign metropolis centered in New York City.

Before the changes in the activities of the Archdiocese, several parishes in Norway had gone through difficult times, some of them were closed. The Nikolaev parish in Oslo suspended its activities, but at the time of the “dissolution” of the exarchate it was accepted by the Serbian Orthodox Church represented in Sweden. At the time of the transition of the former exarchate to the ROC, many parishes from Scandinavian countries were already listed in other jurisdictions. There were many reasons for this, in most cases it was about local considerations.

In addition, the issue of Lettre du vicariate discusses how the parishes of the Archdiocese in France that remained in Constantinople conduct their activities. For example, the community of the Three Hierarchs in the city of Metz lost many parishioners due to the fact that a Romanian Orthodox parish was opened nearby.

The photo shows the temple of the Serbian Church in Sweden.