Phanar: Decisions for the Archdiocese of Australia and former Moscow Patriarchate clergyman’s defrocking lifted

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate met under the chairmanship of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at its regular session on 27 February 2024.

According to the decision of the Holy Synod, the Archdiocese of Australia will henceforth be governed on the basis of a Holy Eparchial Synod, with His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia as President and his Auxiliary Bishops, renamed “Regional Bishops”, retaining their titles.

In addition, the two competent Synodal Commissions will continue their work, studying the draft Constitution in accordance with the decision of the Holy and Sacred Synod, and will present their final report to the Phanar around the feast of Pascha.

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also decided to lift the defrocking penalty imposed on the priest Alexey Uminskiy, formerly a clergyman of the Moscow Patriarchate, because the reasons for the penalty “are not at all related to ecclesiastical criteria, but to the just opposition of the said cleric to the war in Ukraine”.

Photos: Nikos Papachristou
Source: orthodoxtimes.com