In France, Two Priests Return to the Bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
--June 2002

By the mercy of God, two of the seven priests who had gone into schism, Archpriest Mikhail and Priest Quentin de Castelbajac, through repentance returned to the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Fr. Mikhail had been ordained to the priesthood by the ever-memorable St. John, Miracle-Worker of Shanghai and San Francisco. Fr. Quentin, the only one of the departing priests with a higher theological education, is the editor of the only church journal of the Diocese of Western Europe--La Voie Orthodoxe. The return of these two prominent priests to the Western European Diocese is a great joy for those suffering from the schism in the depths of the Russian Church, and a setback for those who have gone into schism.

Unfortunately, at the parish meeting of St. Nicholas church in Lyon, France, on June 9th, where Fr. Quentin is the rector, a majority of the registered members of the parish (51 voices against 35) voted to remain with "bishop" Varnava in the schism. What does give one hope is that among the supporters of the Conciliar Church (i.e., the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) and Fr. Quentin are pious, devoted people who generally have children. At the present time Fr. Quentin and the faithful of the Church need prayers first and foremeost. Fr. Quentin has four very young children and he will be forced to leave the parish house where he has resided since being appointed rector of St. Nicholas Church by ever-memorable Archbishop Seraphim of Brussels and Western Europe. Last year, for his faithfulness to the Sobornaya Church in Paris, the long-serving (23 years) Archpriest Mikhail Goudkoff was evicted, through a vote, from the church of All Saints of Russia. He has six children.