Russia Reasserts Control Over Orthodox Cathedral In France

Last spring, a 1917 split between the Orthodox Church in Russia and congregations outside Russia was largely healed as leaders of the Church Abroad reconciled with the Church in Russia. However some Orthodox congregations in Europe and the United States have refused to go along with the reconciliation. (See prior posting.) In France, Russian authorities are taking steps reassert control over the dissident congregations. Today's New York Times reports that lawyers for the Russian government have obtained a court order from a French court permitting them to proceed with an inventory of the building and contents of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Nice. Russian diplomats in Paris say the church was leased by Czar Nicholas II to the archbishop of St. Petersburg, and that the 99-year lease expired on Dec. 31, 2007. So, they say, the property should revert to the Russian state.