Tag: Ecumenical Patriarchate
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Schism as a Stance of Nonexistence
by Heta Hurskainen | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски With its autonomous church in Ukraine, the Moscow Patriarchate could not accept the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s actions to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU) in 2018–2019. The Moscow Patriarchate severed its relationships with Constantinople and other primates […]
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The Orthodox Church of Ukraine: Ecumenical Reception
by Pavlo Smytsnyuk | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски The establishment of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) created division within the global Orthodox world. Yet, what has received less attention is the effect of the Ukrainian autocephaly on other Christian denominations and ecumenical institutions. Inevitably, and sometimes […]
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On Throwing Stones in Houses of Glass
by Fr. Bohdan Hladio | български | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски Much breath and ink continues to be spent castigating the Patriarchate of Constantinople for its “uncanonical” bestowal of autocephaly upon the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Characteristic are the words of newly-elected Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia: “The actions of Constantinople in Ukraine are […]
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Fraternal Gathering in Amman Exposes Truths in Global Orthodoxy
by Evagelos Sotiropoulos The late February fraternal gathering of six local Orthodox churches in Amman was instructive and at the same time disheartening. Instructive because the gathering exposed truths in global Orthodoxy; disheartening because it was a sad showcasing of Orthodoxy to the world (for the presumably relatively few outsiders who are still paying attention […]
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Dispatches from the Western Front
by Paul Ladouceur With all the attention devoted to the Eastern Front (the Ukraine) in the trench warfare between the Ecumenical Patriarchate (EP) and the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) for preeminence in Orthodoxy, the Western Front is largely ignored. The EP opened the Western Front on November 27, 2018, when it unexpectedly annulled its decree (tomos) […]
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IOCC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Lifeline to Russia
by Theodore Theophilos Over the course of the last few years, the relationship between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate has been severely strained. Disputes involving Ukraine; the Great and Holy Council of 2016; the opening of ROCOR churches in Korea, France and Italy; claims of “Third Rome” status and allegations of Caesaro-Papism—the list […]
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Can Tug-of-War Lead to Unity?
by Ines Angeli Murzaku The death of Patriarch Alexei II marked the end of the “cold era” contacts between Moscow and Constantinople and started a new epoch in inter-Orthodox relations. Kirill’s first foreign visit since his January 2009 election as Patriarch of Moscow was to Constantinople and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Unity and ecumenism […]
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The Heresy of Papism
by George Demacopoulos | ελληνικά | ру́сский The three-way dispute between Ukrainians, Russians, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the possibility of Ukrainian ecclesiastical independence is shaping up to be the greatest challenge to Orthodox Christian unity of our generation. From a purely political perspective, Ukrainian autocephaly would represent an unmitigated disaster for the Russian Orthodox […]
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The Kremlin Hacks the Patriarchate: Is the Church Under Surveillance?
by Evangelos Razis The Kremlin has a long history of interfering in the life of the Orthodox Church. Tsars, General Secretaries, and Presidents have seen in the Church a partner, a source of legitimacy, and a threat to their authority. We learned last week that Vladimir Putin has brought this Russian tradition into the digital […]
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Russia and Ukraine: The Empire’s New Old Clothes
by Fr. Bohdan Hladio The historical path of the Church in Ukraine is controverted and complex: both Moscow and Constantinople claim Ukraine as their canonical territory. As a result, one of the largest Orthodox Churches in the world has experienced schism for over twenty-five years. In April 2018 the Government of Ukraine officially requested a […]