by Archbishop Anatoly who was sent into retirement for the purpose. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, initially, Bishop Hilarion was well accepted by the diocese as a whole. But soon, Bishop Basil and others in the diocese claimed that Bishop Hilarion was, on the direction of senior clergy in the ROC, undermining Metropolitan Anthony in order to increase the ROC's control over the diocese. Suspicions were voiced regarding the manner of Bishop Hilarion's appointment and the manner of his leadership following his appointment. Bishop Hilarion later named those whom he took to be the leaders of this group: Bishop Basil of Sergievo, Archpriest Sergei Hackel, Priest Alexander Fostiropoulos, and Irina Kirillova. Metropolitan Anthony's opposition to the group seeking to undermine and destroy the Diocese of Sourozh is forcefully expressed in an address he made to his London Parish on 12 December 2002 which has been recorded. During this period, Bishop Basil and others began to suggest that, should relations with the Moscow Patriarchate worsen, then the members of the Diocese of Sourozh would change jurisdiction by leaving the Russian Orthodox Church and joining the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Subsequently, Bishop Basil also claimed that, with the full knowledge of Metropolitan Anthony, 'letters of dismissal' were prepared for clergy of the Diocese of Sourozh, to enable them to transfer out of the diocese to another jurisdiction. However, several of the closest and most trusted assistants of Metropolitan Anthony claim to have had no knowledge of this. On 24 April 2006, Bishop Basil decided to write to the Patriarch of Moscow asking that he, and those who wished to follow him, be released from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate that they may be received into the Patriarchate of Constantinople. On 9 May 2006, Patriarch Alexy II issued a decree saying Osborne was relieved of his duties as administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh. On 8 June 2006, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate responded to Bishop Basil's appeal. The synod unanimously agreed to receive Bishop Basil, giving him the new title of Bishop of Amphipolis. As Bishop of Amphipolis, Osborne was appointed assistant bishop within the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Archdiocese of Parishes of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe (i.e. the 'Exarchate'), under the headship of Archbishop Gabriel of Comana. In his brief time as assistant bishop in the Exarchate, Basil's authority was over a newly formed vicariate of parishes in the