The cleric is sure that handing over the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has dealt a serious blow to the Constantinople Patriarchate
BELGRADE, July 29. /TASS/. The Constantinople
Patriarchate should convene the Pan-Orthodox Council and come to terms
with the Russian Orthodox Church in order to overcome the Orthodox
Church split, Metropolitan bishop of Montenegro and the Littoral
Amfilohije said in an interview with TASS on Monday.
"The only thing that Constantinople could do today is to gain
strength because it is not easy for it and to convene the Pan-Orthodox
Council, agree with the Moscow Patriarchate and find a solution in order
to overcome the split in the church. I believe this is the only thing
that can be done," the metropolitan noted.
According to one of the leading hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox
Church, the decision on handing over the Tomos of Autocephaly to the
newly-established Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has dealt a serious
blow to the Constantinople Patriarchate. "This is a serious damage for
the Constantinople Patriarchate. All conferences of bishops, which used
to be held earlier around the world, have been almost suspended both in
Latin America and in Europe. Constantinople sees that it hasn’t done any
wise thing either for Russia or for the entire Orthodoxy. This is a
tragic story," he pointed out.
The metropolitan has condemned the Constantinople Patriarchate’s
decision to elect Epiphanius as the Metropolitan of Kiev and All
Ukraine. "This has created such an unprecedented feud inside the
Orthodox Church. No local church has recognized this [the creation of
the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine]," he said, stressing: "I’m
sure that what has been done in Ukraine was under the pressure of the
United States and Europe."
The
metropolitan noted that the Constantinople Patriarchate has 2,000
believers in Turkey and Fener, a historic quarter in Constantinople
housing the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who are facing a
disaster. "By their actions they are ruining their foundations," he
claimed.
Church crisis in Ukraine
Since the February 2014 coup, Kiev has sought to create an
independent church in Ukraine that would sever ties with the canonical
Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In April 2018, the then-Ukrainian President
Pyotr Poroshenko wrote a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople asking for autocephaly for the Ukrainian church.
On December 15, 2018, Kiev hosted the so-called ‘unification’ council
held under the supervision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople and brokered by the Ukrainian authorities. The canonical
Ukrainian Orthodox Church refused to take part in the event, stressing
that both the ‘unification council’ and Poroshenko’s newly founded
ecclesiastical establishment were illegitimate. Nevertheless, after the
council, the Ukrainian president announced the establishment of a new
church in the country, the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The
Tomos of Autocephaly (a clerical decree on establishing an independent
church) was handed over to its head, Metropolitan Epiphanius, on January
6.