Communiqué from the Archdiocesan Council on the Diocesan Assembly held on 30 March 2013

The Diocesan Assembly of the Archdiocese met on Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Paris, in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It was attended by 188 clergy and lay delegates from the parishes and communities.

On the agenda of the meeting was a review of the proposal made by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in his letter dated 4 March 2013. This proposal is, first, to extend, the function of His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel, Locum tenens of the Archiepiscopal throne, as patriarchal Exarch temporarily administering the Archdiocese until 1 November 2013, when a General Meeting of the Archdiocese shall be held. Such a function for the pastoral needs of our parishes and communities has been recognized as useful and accepted with gratitude. This function will be remain until the election of a new Archbishop in accordance with the Tomos and the statutes. His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel reaffirmed the commitment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the continuation and integrity of the Archdiocese. The other two proposals, on the appointment of an auxiliary bishop and a possible modification of the statutes, necessitate the procedure prescribed by the statutes of the Archdiocese and will be subject to a further decision of the Council. The Council was also charged with drafting a response to the letter of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew.