The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) has rejected a petition to receive Bishop Emilianos of Meloa and rescinded the reception of Australian deacon Christos Karafotias, affirming both remain under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
Meeting in Munich, the council ruled that, under church canons, the pair remain clerics of the Archdiocese due to the absence of a formal canonical release.
The decision overturns earlier actions by Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal, who had sought to receive Bishop Emilianos and accepted Karafotias into ROCOR while serving as locum tenens of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America.
The ruling follows disciplinary action taken earlier this year by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which imposed canonical penalties on both men during a February session of the Holy and Sacred Synod presided over by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
At the time, the Patriarchate announced that Bishop Emilianos — an inactive bishop residing in the United States — and Deacon Christos Karafotias of the Australian Archdiocese had been found to have committed canonical offences, though no details were publicly released regarding the nature of the allegations.
As a result of that ruling, Bishop Emilianos was suspended from all sacred duties for six months, while Karafotias was dismissed from clerical office and returned to the lay order.
Shortly after the February decision, Karafotias publicly confirmed he had joined the ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which operates under the Moscow Patriarchate.
Bishop Emilianos, now based in Dallas while studying at Dallas Baptist University, has continued public ministry during his suspension.
Source: UOJ.
