Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh

The Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh (Russian: Суро́жская Епа́рхия) is a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church which has for its territory the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Its name is taken from an ancient see in the Crimea that no longer has a bishop. The patron saint of the diocese is St Stephen of Sourozh, an eighth-century Archbishop of Sourozh (today Sudak) and Confessor of the Faith during the Iconoclastic Controversy.

Founded in October 1962, the diocese was headed by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) until his death in 2003.

On 6 October 2006, the Holy Synod announced that Archimandrite Elisey (Ganaba), head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, was to be consecrated Bishop of Bogorodsky, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Korsun, with responsibility for the administration of the Diocese of Sourozh. Additionally, since the adoption of its new statutes in 2010, the Diocese was placed under the direct and personal spiritual and administrative authority of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The origins of the Diocese of Sourozh lie in the Parish of the Dormition in London, which from 1716 existed as the Russian Embassy Church and which changed location several times in the course of its history.

The jurisdictional history of the parish in the years following the Russian Revolution is complicated. Immediately following the Russian Revolution the parish was under the jurisdiction of what would become known as the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). In 1926, however, the parish split into those who continued to support ROCOR and those who supported the Moscow Patriarchate. Each group took services in turn. Then, in 1931, the parish was taken into the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1945 the parish followed its bishop, Metropolitan Evlogii, who wished to move back into the Moscow Patriarchate but on the condition that he would need a release from the Ecumenical Patriarch – which was applied for, but never granted. To this day, therefore, the London Parish has never been canonically released from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and in terms of canon law it remains with Moscow only on a de facto basis.

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