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Rector of an Orthodox church in Biarritz was persecuted and frightened by the Patriarchate of Constantinople
Interfax
Paris, April 14, Interfax - A former secretary of the Exarchate of the Russian parishes in Western Europe (Patriarchate of Constantinople) Vassily Tisengauzen stated that after the demise of Archbishop Sergius in 2003 ‘all priests suspected of liking for the Russian orthodox tradition were persecuted’.
In an article published by a Parish Russkaya Mysl daily he wrote that ‘rectors were changed, and the Exarchate clergymen were forbidden to concelebrate with the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate’.
As to the situation with the Russian church in Biarritz, Tisengausen quoted the former rector, who said that the present head of the Exarchate archbishop Gabriel (de Wilder) called him and ‘demanded him to retire without any explanations’.
Later, methods of ‘frightening and persecution’ were employed against the rector and his family. ‘The frightened family had to leave their apartment’, Tisengausen said.
Speaking about the St.Nicholas’ church in Nice, he noted that the Exarchate did nothing to settle the conditions of 'rent’. He denounces ‘a flow of false information’ initiated by the parish leaders in Nice.
‘To all appearances, their only objective was to incite a part of Russian emigration against Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate’, Tisengausen said in conclusion.