While the 's Western Rite mission withered and ended, thrived; however, after Maximovich died, Kovalevsky was left without canonical protection until his death in 1970. In 1972, the church found a new canonical superior in the Romanian Orthodox Church. Gilles Bertrand-Hardy was then consecrated as bishop and took the religious name Germain of Saint-Denis. In 1993, after long conflict with the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church about alleged canonical irregularities within , the Romanian Orthodox Church withdrew its blessing of and broke off communion. The Romanian Orthodox Church decided, which is contested by , to depose Bertrand-Hardy from all sacerdotal functions. This decision (which was never accepted by ) is applied by the canonical dioceses of the AEOF (Assemblée des Evêques Orthodoxes de France). The sanction was confirmed and explained in 2001 by another document, "Avis d'expertise canonique" from the Secretary of the Romanian Synod (a document which the considers to have no value). The Romanian Orthodox Church established a deanery under Bertrand-Hardy's brother, Archpriest Gregoire Bertrand-Hardy, to minister to those parishes which chose to remain in communion with the Romanian Orthodox Church.