Peaceful Resolution to Divisions in Orthodox Church in Britain

Disagreements within the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain have found a peaceful conclusion after the Moscow Patriarchate agreed to allow Bishop Basil Osborne to transfer from the jurisdiction of Russian Orthodox Church to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad told reporters: "We let Bishop Basil go. Now he will legally represent the Church of Constantinople. It will be possible to concelebrate with him."

Almost one year ago, Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow sacked Bishop Basil after he requested to transfer his Sourozh Diocese in Britain to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch, who is the senior bishop of the Orthodox Churches.

Bishop Basil was very open about his desire to modernise the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain, which had grown to over 100,000 members since the collapse of the Soviet Union, The Church of England Newspaper reported.

In response to this, the Ecumenical Patriarchate named Basil an auxiliary bishop of Constantinople, sparking a battle over the control of the diocese and its properties.

An agreement was reached following a meeting in Geneva on March 29 between representatives of the two Patriarchs, the Interfax News agency reported.

Metropolitan Kyrill told reporters that the "problem arose because Bishop Basil went over to Constantinople illegally, without any request from Constantinople and without any consent from the Moscow Patriarchate".

He said Constantinople has now requested his documents, including a letter of release.

"This means that the Moscow Patriarchate has granted Bishop Basil a canonical leave," he said.