Orthodox Christians of Western Europe on the march towards the local Church

This article is the text of a plenary address delivered by Michel Sollogoub, an economist and Orthodox community leader, at a congress of the Orthodox Brotherhood in Western Europe. Taking both a historical and sociological approach, the author surveys the Orthodox presence in Western Europe from the first migratory waves of the twentieth century. He characterizes the Western cultural environment as a society of "post-Christendom" or "accomplished secularity," a specific context that gives Orthodox Christians in Western Europe a distinctive identity and vocation. The article then analyzes the ecclesiological scandal of overlapping jurisdictions, which are contrary to Orthodox canons, and examines the progress of the pre-conciliar process, notably the Chambésy agreements. Finally, it proposes concrete orientations — pastoral, liturgical, catechetical and ecumenical — toward the establishment of a unified local Church on Western European territory.