The Ministry of Justice in Lithuania has officially endorsed the establishment of an exarchate for a group of priests who broke away from the Vilnius-Lithuanian Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate, under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, according to TASS, citing ministry representative Paulus Zheimis.

Legal registration allows the exarchate to receive financial support from the state, which is distributed among traditional religious communities.

Metropolitan Innocent, the head of the Vilnius-Lithuanian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, referred to the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as an invasion of another canonical territory and legitimization of church schism. "Illegal invasion of another canonical territory and legitimization of church schism, I am sure, will not find support among the majority of Orthodox Churches," quoted the website of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church.

In the summer of 2023, the head of the Lithuanian diocese stripped five priests of their rank for violating their priestly oath and veering toward schism. They stated that, given the events in Ukraine, the diocese's canonical affiliation should be reconsidered, with a possible transition under the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Later, they were accepted into the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but the Lithuanian diocese did not recognize the restoration of the schismatic clerics to sacred orders. At that time, it became known that Patriarch Bartholomew planned to establish an exarchate in Lithuania. The Russian Orthodox Church condemned this decision, calling it an invasion of another canonical territory.