Orthodox Christians in Central and Western Europe

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The Orthodox Christians in Central and Western Europe (more precisely, the Byzantine Orthodox Christians) are a religious minority in these countries.

Greek orthodoxy

Until the Second World War , Greeks came mainly to study in Western Europe or as refugees from what is now Turkey (1922). Well-known personalities ( Constantin Carathéodory ) worked as scientists, artists or diplomats in Western Europe. Many Greeks abroad - especially from North Africa (Egypt) - emigrated to Western Europe in the 1950s (known among them was, for example, Georges Moustaki ). Due to the labor shortage in the 1960s, many workers were recruited from Greece to Germany . During the military dictatorship (1967–1974) in Greece, many political refugees (such as Andreas Papandreou , Mikis Theodorakis ) came to Western Europe. Today, many Greek students still come to Western Europe to study.

Most of the Greek parishes in Western Europe also include the believers of the Greek-Cypriot sister church. Many Cypriots came to Western Europe (mostly to Great Britain), especially from the northern part of the island, after the Turkish invasion and occupation.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople has a metropolitan in Germany (Bonn), in France with 16 parishes and the Metropolitan Church of St. Stephanos (St. Etienne) in Paris, in Switzerland (Geneva) and in Austria (bishopric). The parishes are mostly in large cities z. B. Vienna , Frankfurt, Mannheim , Lyon, Grenoble , Nice (seat of the auxiliary bishop ). The Metropolitan of Germany and Exarch of Central Europe is Augoustinos Lambardakis , Metropolitan of Austria Arsenios Kardamakis . (Until 1930, however, and from 1945 to 1947 and again from 1965 to 1971, the metropolis of Paris was subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow.)

Since the mid-1970s there have also been parishes of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (also known as the “Rum Orthodox Church”, predominantly Arabic-speaking) in Central and Western Europe. All parishes were initially subordinate to the Metropolitan Region for Central and Western Europe with headquarters in Paris, which is now only responsible for Western and Southern Europe and is headed by Archbishop Ignatius Al-Houshi . The metropolis of the Orthodox Church of Antioch in Germany and Central Europe has around 5000 believers; Metropolitan is Archbishop Isaak Barakat . In 1995 an Antiochian Orthodox Deanery in the United Kingdom was founded, which was elevated to the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland in 2013 .

Romanian Orthodoxy

The Romanian Orthodox Church currently has five dioceses in the West and Central European diaspora. In 1949 there were about 300,000 Romanian Orthodox believers in Western Europe. For a long time the metropolitan in Paris was responsible for these believers. After the fall of the communist regime and the opening of the borders, many Romanians came to Western Europe. Since 1993 there has been a Metropolitan for Germany and Central Europe in Germany . The current metropolitan is Serafim Joantă (since 1994). The seat of the Metropolitan is in Nuremberg. The Metropolitan Church is the Church of the Holy Martyr Demetrios in Nuremberg . Auxiliary Bishop Sofian has resided in Munich since 2003. Since May 2008 there has been a Romanian Orthodox diocese for Northern Europe within the canonical framework of this metropolis. It is headed by Bishop Macarie Drăgoi .

In France , after an unusually long vacancy, Metropolitan Iosif Pop was ordained on March 15, 1998 . He has been assisted in administrative matters by Auxiliary Bishop Marc Alric since 2005 . The Metropolitan Church has been the Saint-Archanges Church in Paris since 2009 . Two dioceses, one for Italy and the other for Spain and Portugal , are subordinate to this metropolis . The Spanish-Portuguese diocese is headed by Bishop Timotei Lauran and the Italian diocese is headed by Bishop Siluan Şpan .

Slavic Orthodoxy

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Even before the October Revolution , there were some Eastern Churches in Western Europe. During communist rule there was little emigration of citizens from the states of the Eastern bloc to Western Europe for political reasons. The communities in Western Europe usually developed a life of their own. Sometimes the authority of the patriarchs was not recognized in the respective home countries. The Russian Church in Western Europe also had a religious radio program. After the end of communist rule in the states of the former Warsaw Pact, more and more citizens emigrated to Western Europe. This led in particular to the strengthening of the Western European communities abroad.

The Russian Orthodox Church founded several parishes in Western Europe during the time of the Tsars. Mostly in places where Russian aristocrats or bourgeoisie settled or came to the cure. There are Russian Orthodox parishes in Wiesbaden , Darmstadt , Baden-Baden , Nice , Paris and Vienna . Many Russians fled to Western Europe as a result of the October Revolution . The Russian Orthodox Church in Paris is Ste. Trinité (Paris).

Individual Russian Orthodox parishes:

Georgian Orthodoxy

The Georgian Orthodox Apostle Church established a diocese for Western Europe in 2002, headed by Abraham Garmelia . It maintains communities u. a. in Munich and Düsseldorf .

Municipalities in individual countries

Germany

In Germany there are parishes of all important Orthodox churches.

France

In France there are eparchies and parishes of the large Orthodox churches. There is also the Orthodox Catholic Church of France, which is not recognized as canonical by other churches .

Italy

In Italy there are eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox churches.

The metropolitan area of ​​Aquileia and Western Europe is an autocephalous church that is not recognized by the other Orthodox churches. The Orthodox Church in Italy , also a church not recognized by the other Orthodox churches, became an Old Catholic Church within the Nordic Catholic Church in 2013 .

Liechtenstein

For over 20 years there has been a church association in Liechtenstein that unites all Orthodox Christians and is recognized by all church hierarchies concerned. Initially, a Greek and a Slavic worship congregation belonged to it; it expands in the course of immigration by believers of other origins.

Austria

In Austria there are also parishes of the large Orthodox churches.

See also

literature

  • Orthodoxia 2006 , ed. from the Eastern Church Institute, Regensburg (all orthodox and ancient oriental dioceses and bishops in the world)
  • Orthodox dioceses and parishes in Germany : in Orthodoxie Aktuell, special issue 1 (1998), ISSN  1433-5417

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Romanian Diaspora ( Memento from September 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Website of the diocese
  3. ↑ მიუნხენის წმ. ვახტანგ გორგასლის სახელობის ქართული მართლმადიდებლური ეკლესია
  4. ↑ წმ. ანთიმოზ ივერიელის სახელობის დიუსელდორფის ქართული მართლმადიდებლური სამრევლო
  5. ↑ Chiesa vecchio-cattolica in Italia own website
  6. ↑ Christian-Orthodox religious community in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .