On the evening of November 8, at 5:51 p.m., when most Russian Orthodox Church parishes were already holding the all-night vigil before Sunday, the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate published a brief notice about changes in church administration.
“By order of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Metropolitan Nestor of Korsun and Western Europe has been removed from the administration of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Western Europe, as well as the Diocese of Korsun, the Spanish-Portuguese Diocese, and the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Italy in connection with church court proceedings initiated against him. Temporary administration of the above-mentioned canonical structures has been entrusted to Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailov.”
The statement says the reason for the decision was the initiation of church court proceedings against Nestor. The move affects several ROC structures in Europe at once: the Patriarchal Exarchate of Western Europe, the Diocese of Korsun, the Spanish-Portuguese Diocese, and the Moscow Patriarchate’s parishes in Italy.
Temporary control of these structures has been assigned to Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailov. According to the report, Mark is believed to hold citizenship of one of the European Union countries.
Mark’s name had appeared in a similar context a year earlier: during the scandal surrounding the dismissal of Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary Hilarion (Alfeyev) after a high-profile investigation by Novaya-Europe, he was the one put in charge of ROC parishes in Hungary.