Meeting at the Valaam Holy Transfiguration Monastery, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made a number of decisions regarding its dioceses abroad. In particular, the hierarchs officially accepted 8 parishes from throughout the dioceses of the Church’s newly-established Southeast Asian Exarchate and one more in Europe into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, reports Patriarchia.ru. The Exarchate was established on December 28, with four dioceses created within it on February 27: the Dioceses of Singapore, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines-Vietnam. On April 4, the Holy Synod appointed His Eminence Archbishop Theophan of Kyzyl and Tuva as the ruling hierarch of the Korean Diocese.

In Europe, the newly-established parish in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago and part of the Kingdom of Denmark, was officially accepted into the Patriarchate. Archpriest Timothy Zolotusky, rector of St. Nicholas Church in Reykjavik, Iceland was appointed the pastor of the new parish.

In the Southeast Asian Exarchate, the parish of the Resurrection of Christ in Seoul and the parish of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Busan, South Korea were accepted into the Korean Diocese; the parish of the Transfiguration of Christ in Yangon, Myanmar was accepted into the Thailand Diocese; and the parishes of Christ the Savior in Tagaytay, Philippines, St. Matrona of Moscow in Davao, Mindanao Island, Philippines, the Resurrection of Christ in General Santos, Mindanao Island, St. Xenia of St. Petersburg in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the Holy Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam were accepted into the Philippines-Vietnam Diocese. It was also decided to resume the activity of the parish of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Manila, Philippines.

Each of the new parishes already includes several dozen people. “It’s not just our compatriots, diplomats and people who are in these countries for family or business reasons, but these parishes are for the local inhabitants who also become Orthodox Christians and become children of the Russian Orthodox Church,” Fr. Alexander Volkov, the head of the Patriarchal press service, told journalists following the Synod’s meeting. (Quelle: www.orthochristian.com, 11. Juli 2019)