Difficult Choices in Unprecedented Canonical Circumstances Мetropolitan Evlogii (Georgievskii) belongs to the first generation of “professional” bishops in the ROCOR, who received the best education available in the Orthodox world and actively participated in the political and ecclesial life of the Russian Empire. In 1922, he supported the foundation of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. In 1926, Metropolitan Evlgoii decided to place himself directly under Moscow to fulfill the decree issued by Patriarch Tikhon in 1922. In 1930, he felt that he was unable to remain under Metropolitan Sergii (Stragordoskii) and became an exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In August 1945, he was received back into Moscow Patriarchate. The Ecumenical Patriarchate did give him a letter of canonical release, and most of the Paris Exarchate did not support this change. No wonder, then, that when Metropolitan Evlogii died on August 8, 1946, the Exarchate stopped the process of integrating with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Relevant Links Archpriest Michael Polsky, "Essay on the Position of the Russian Exarchate of the Ecumenical Jurisdiction" “How Wonderful it Would be if All of us Russian Exiles Would Attain the Church’s Freedom from All Influences that Are Earthly, Worldly, and Not of the Church” Correspondence between First Hierarchs of the ROCOR and Parisian Exarchate (1946-1949) Archpriest Alexander Schmemann, "The Church and Church Structure: Regarding the book by Archpriest Polsky, The Canonical Position of the Supreme Church Authority in the USSR and Outside Russia" | 
