Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), Moscow’s former foreign-relations chief, was despatched to two remote parishes in the Brazilian interior days after Czech police confirmed that the “white substance” found in his car was cocaine — an accusation the metropolitan denounced as a set-up, denying any involvement with drugs. Elsewhere, two church–state reckonings loomed at the window’s edge: Estonia’s Supreme Court was to rule on 8 June on the law severing ties of its Orthodox Church with Moscow, and Armenia’s 7 June elections turned on the governing party’s pledge to remove Catholicos Karekin II. Strasbourg’s condemnation of Turkey over Ecumenical Patriarchate clergy reverberated on; Romania’s Synod added new feasts and accepted a contested Moldovan resignation; and in Asia the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared a Romanian priest persona non grata, exposing the fault lines of overlapping jurisdiction.

This week the Orthodox world moved between solemnity and strain. At the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew turned toward Pentecost and a fresh slate of bishops, while the Church of Cyprus closed a year of turmoil by electing a new Metropolitan of Paphos. Two clocks, meanwhile, began counting down to early June: Estonia’s Supreme Court set 8 June to rule on a law that would force its Orthodox Church to break with Moscow, and Armenia’s government openly campaigned to unseat Catholicos Karekin II before the 7 June vote. From Lebanon to Madagascar, from a Romanian cathedral in Madrid to a canonical clash in Hong Kong, the same question kept surfacing — who has the authority to minister, and where. Plus: Bulgaria’s €62.5 million for rural churches, and Russia’s deepening footprint in Africa.

The Coptic Holy Synod voted on 22 May to resume its theological dialogue with Rome, suspended since 2024 over same-sex blessings — a breakthrough enabled by a phone call between Pope Tawadros II and Pope Leo XIV. The same Synod canonised two figures and approved a diaspora strategy through 2050. In Belgrade, the Serbian Bishops’ Assembly took the rare step of removing Metropolitan Justin from the Diocese of Žiča over financial governance concerns, while also canonising the 19th-century nun Jefimija of Devič and advancing plans for a Serbian Orthodox university. At the Phanar, Anglican and Orthodox delegations prepared the next phase of their theological dialogue, and Catholicos Aram I met Pope Leo XIV in Rome, calling for a common Easter date and a Third Vatican Council. Meanwhile, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria travelled to Zambia for a six-day pastoral visit, consecrating a new church in the historically significant Zambezi region, even as the Russian Exarchate of Africa celebrated its first liturgy in Angola. A Macedonian state-church delegation visited Rome for the feast of Ss Cyril and Methodius, and in Armenia, church–state friction intensifies ahead of the 7 June elections, with the security services monitoring church activities for Russian influence.

The election and enthronement of Shio III as Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia dominated the week’s Orthodox news. The divided Synod vote (22 out of 39) and documented ties between the new Patriarch and pro-Kremlin networks immediately raised questions about Russian influence in one of Orthodoxy’s oldest Churches. In Munich, the ROCOR Council of Bishops advanced the canonisation process of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, a decision that exposes tensions between Rose’s anti-ecumenist legacy and ROCOR’s 2007 union with Moscow. Pope Tawadros II’s European tour reached its climax with a historic Coptic Divine Liturgy at Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice, while Pope Leo XIV telephoned the Coptic Pope to revive dialogue suspended since 2024 over *Fiducia Supplicans*. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, meeting on 14 May at the Danilov Monastery, canonised two new confessors and made key personnel appointments. In Ukraine, the OCU moved to consolidate its position by defrocking remnant UOC–KP claimants, while the forced conscription of UOC clergy intensified. The Serbian Orthodox Church opened its 2026 Bishops’ Council in Belgrade.

The Georgian Orthodox Church confirmed its patriarchal election for 11 May. Metropolitan Shio, locum tenens, leads with 20 synodal votes against seven each for Metropolitans Iob and Grigol. Grigol of Poti and Khobi, seen as the most reform-minded candidate, warned against letting the process resemble a political contest and stated the Church must not fall into Russia’s orbit.
In Athens, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the Greek Parliament for the first time in 27 years, receiving its Gold Medal. He met PM Mitsotakis, who spoke of “positive news” regarding the Halki seminary’s reopening, now targeted for September 2026.
The ROCOR Council of Bishops decided to bless the process of preparing the ecclesiastical glorification (canonisation) of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose — who, once the process is completed, would become the first U.S.-born ROCOR saint.
In Syria, Patriarch Aphrem II inaugurated the restored Mor Jirjis Cathedral in Hasakah after a four-year rehabilitation, during his first pastoral visit to the Jazira region since the political transition.