[3] On September 7, 1945, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the ROC, The Western European Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate was established, headed by Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), then seriously ill. On the death of the latter on August 8, 1946 by decision of the Synod and the decree of Patriarch Alexius I of Moscow, Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov) was appointed new Exarch of Western Europe.

The communiqué concluded that since John of Charioupolis had not requested this decision, he still remained fully in pastoral charge of the Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe.

[10][15] On 28 December 2018, in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's actions in Ukraine,[16] the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to create "a Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe with the center in Paris" whose "pastoral sphere of responsibility includes" Andorra, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Principality of Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Switzerland.

[22][23] Before that, the Diocese of Chersonesus was taking charge of the Orthodox communities of the Moscow Patriarchate in France, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain.

[24] The person chosen to be the primate of the PEWE as well as of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Chersonesus was Bishop John (Roschchin) of Bogorodsk.

[25][26][27] On 30 May 2019, the Holy Synod of the ROC decided to appoint archbishop Anthony (Sevryuk) of Vienna and Budapest as primate of the PEWE and of the diocese of Chersonesus.

[35] On December 4, 2019, the first meeting of the Synod of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Western Europe took place in the building of the Korsun Diocesan Administration in Paris.