The Orthodox Church of the Gauls (French: Église Orthodoxe des Gaules or ÉOG) is a self-governing Orthodox church formed in 2006 and is part of the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches (CÉOO). The church's first hierarch is Bishop Gregory (Mendez), the superior of the Orthodox Monastery of St Michael and St Martin in Luzé, France.
Contents
Beliefs
The ÉOG maintains traditional Orthodox beliefs and practice, and affirms the doctrinal teachings of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. While affirming the theological statements of the latter four councils, the ÉOG rejects the application to the Oriental Orthodox Churches of those councils' condemnations of monophysitism. Therefore, the ÉOG recognises both Oriental Orthodox Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches as sister churches.
History
The ÉOG has its origins in the Orthodox Church of France (ÉOF), and was originally formed of two groups:
After the ÉOG separated from the ÉOF, the French Coptic Orthodox Church (ÉCOF) agreed to receive some groups into full communion in 2000. These groups were permitted to use their existing Gallican Mass and the Daily Office (Hours) of the ancient Western Church. When it became clear that remaining with the ÉCOF would mean abandoning their western liturgical heritage, the group separated from the ÉCOF.
After separating from the ÉCOF, they formed the ÉOG along with some other clergy and laity, and elected Father Michel Mendez as bishop.[1] Mendez took the religious name Gregory and was consecrated on 16th December 2006 by Bishop Vigile and Bishop Martin (Laplaud) of the French Orthodox Church, as well as Bishop Maël (de Brescia) and Bishop Marc (Jean-Claude Scheerens) of the Celtic Orthodox Church.
In the years since then, through organic expansion and the founding of new communities, the church has grown numerically, and today comprises a number of parishes, missions, and monastic communities in France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Cameroon.
Worship
The ÉOG is primarily a Western Rite church, whose worship is supplemented with some eastern sources. Clergy wear western vestments and the eucharistic rite of the church is the Divine Liturgy of St Germanus of Paris, being a 20th century reconstruction of the Gallican rite Mass.
After the formation of the Orthodox Church of France in 1936, the priest Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky), later Saint John of Saint-Denis, set about restoring the Gallican rite for use by the French Church. The principal documents he used that had been unavailable to his predecessors in restoring the Gallican Mass were two letters ascribed to Saint Germanus of Paris (496-576) that describe the liturgy in sixth-century Paris. Kovalevsky drew on the writings of numerous Gallican saints of the same era that provide information on Gallican liturgical practice, as well as extant missals, sacramentaries, lectionaries, and antiphonaries. The restored liturgy has gone through several editions (1956, 1968, 1973, 1975, and 1998). Some Orthodox outside of the French Church circulated rumours that the liturgy was simply a product of Kovalevsky's imagination. In response to this, Archbishop John Maximovitch, (later Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco), chaired a special liturgical commission that studied the liturgy word by word, comparing it to the original sources. The 1961 report of the commission declared the liturgy to be authentic. It has been approved for use in the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, the Romanian Orthodox Church, and the Serbian Orthodox Church, in addition to being the standard form of the mass used in the Orthodox Church of France, the French Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Church of the Gauls.
The music generally used in the restored Gallican rite Mass and other services is largely the composition of Maxim Kovalevsky (1903-1988), a deacon in the Russian Orthodox Church and the brother of Bishop Jean-Nectaire. His music is a hybrid of classical western plainsong melodies, often harmonised, and variants on traditional Russian and Greek chants, adapted according to Kovalevsky's trademark style. Bishop Gregory (Mendez) studied under Maxim Kovalesky and is himself an accomplished composer of liturgical music, some of which is used in the worship of the ÉOG.
Relations with other churches
The ÉOG is in full communion with the Celtic Orthodox Church and the French Orthodox Church since 2007 through the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches. CÉOO bishops meet regularly to strengthen their bonds of unity, and are committed to a common way of life, including recognition of each other's saints, liturgical rites, and customs, as well as the free interchangeability of clergy.
Since April 2009, the ÉOG is in full communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America.
While not currently recognised by these larger Orthodox communions, the ÉOG considers itself to be in a communion of faith with the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches.