Metropolitan Eulogius

This article by Antoine Nivière traces the personality and journey of Metropolitan Euloge (1868-1946), who led the Russian Orthodox parishes in Western Europe from 1921 to 1946. Based on the metropolitan's memoirs, accounts from contemporaries, and archival sources, it adopts a biographical and analytical approach in two parts: the man's personality and the scope of his ecclesiastical work. The central idea is that Metropolitan Euloge was above all a church builder, whose pastoral action — founding the Saint-Sergius Institute, developing a pan-European parish network, pioneering ecumenical engagement — was driven by a constant conviction: the necessary independence of the Church from all political power. The article makes a twofold contribution: it offers a nuanced portrait of a major figure in Orthodox diaspora and sheds light on Euloge's theological and ecclesiological legacy, particularly his defense of ecclesiastical freedom, whose relevance the author considers fully current.