Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh - Influx Into The Diocese After The Fall of The Soviet Union

Influx Into The Diocese After The Fall of The Soviet Union

With the fall of communism in Russia, a new wave of Russian Orthodox parishioners entered the diocese. Many amongst this group, attending the diocesan cathedral in London, were unhappy at the (for a Russian Church) non-standard practices which prevailed in the diocese, and sought to bring its liturgical practices and ethos into line with the standard practice of the Russian Orthodox Church. For the supporters of such change, this amounted to 'normalisation'; for its opponents, it constituted Russification. Tension developed within the Cathedral over these issues. Until recently, however, there has been no evidence of such problems elsewhere in the diocese, not even in parishes with significant 'new' Russian and British elements.

It has been alleged by British ROCOR clergy that the diocese of Sourozh failed to expand to meet the spiritual needs of newly-arrived Orthodox Christians from Russia who lived in areas of the United Kingdom in which the diocese did not have parishes or communities. Such allegations have been confirmed by the commission of the Holy Synod, which has concluded that in recent years 'there were not enough Russian-speaking priests in the parish to celebrate services and, in particular, to confess, that English was gradually used more and more as a liturgical language, and that this was disproportionate to the actual number of English people at the Cathedral'.

Since May 2006, when the Enismore Gardens Cathedral has been controversially taken over by the pro-Russian traditionalist faction, and a number of priests and members of the congregation were forced to leave, various new parishes and communities have been opened.