The Crypt and the Rise of French Orthodoxy

This article traces the history of the emergence of Orthodox liturgy in the French language in the Paris region in the aftermath of the Second World War. Through a historical and testimonial study, Michel Evdokimov reconstructs the concrete conditions — ecclesiastical, cultural and social — that fostered the proliferation of celebrations in French and led to the founding of the parish known as the Crypte. The central idea is that this parish constitutes a founding moment in the process of the rooting of Orthodoxy in France, marking the transition from a diaspora Church to an ecclesial presence anchored in the local language and culture. The contribution of the article lies in the precise documentation of this transition, offering essential elements for understanding the history of French-speaking Orthodoxy in the twentieth century.