Browsing: Autocephaly

Source: Orthodox Christianity Prespa, North Macedonia — “There is a sense that the Patriarchate of Constantinople will launch formal talks on autocephaly,” Metropolitan Peter of Prespa-Pelagoniski of the schismatic “Macedonian Orthodox Church” (MOC) told reporters recently, as reports Romfea. There have been no official contacts or meetings yet, the MOC hierarch stressed, though he said there has been an informal expression of a desire by Patriarch Bartholomew himself to resolve the issue of the Serbian-Macedonian schism. “There is a disposition by the Patriarchate of Constantinople to resolve the issue of the autocephaly of our church in one of the future sessions of the…

Read More

Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Elena Konstantinova Patriarch Bartholomew did not allow Metropolitan Kipriyan to serve in the church of Sts Constantine and Helena in Adrianople. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople did not allow Metropolitan Kipriyan of Stara Zagora of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to perform the Divine Liturgy in the church of Saints Constantine and Helena of the Bulgarian community in the city of Adrianople in Turkey, the Greek site Romfea reports. The publication notes that the Bulgarian community of the city of Adrianople is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, thus permission and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate must be…

Read More

Source: Orthodox Christianity [Athens] As they have already done several times, the hierarchs of the Greek Church have again postponed discussion of the Ukrainian ecclesiastical issue, according to sources within the Greek Orthodox Church. Yesterday, the Telegram channel of the Moscow Patriarchal press service, “Church Today,” reported, citing its own sources within the Greek Church, that the hierarchs would not discuss Ukraine at the upcoming session of the Bishops’ Council, which will open on October 8. This report comes after the Permanent Holy Synod of the Greek Church met in Athens on October 1, and, according to Greek sources, was “seeking…

Read More

Source: Orthodox Christianity [Lastva Grbaljska, Montenegro] – The Serbian Orthodox Church is equal to the ancient Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople and the rest, and the Church of Christ does not divide along ethnic lines, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia and His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro said at recent celebrations at the Podlastva Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Montenegro. Celebrating the 800th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Church and the 1,500th anniversary of the monastery on Saturday, September 28, His Holiness stated that “today is a great and blessed day. Eight…

Read More

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos More than a year or so ago I had written on the issue of granting Autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. We are revisiting the issue today because of the unholy games that some prelates of the ancient and new Patriarchates and from the Autocephalous Churches continue to play by attacking the very heart of the Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Many things have come to light, and many individuals, including patriarchs, archbishops, metropolitans, and priests, have been exposed. It is really interesting to see the masks falling, revealing the faces behind them.…

Read More

Source: Orthodox Christianity Background [Athens] – One of the biggest battlegrounds in the Ukrainian Church Crisis has been whether or not the Church of Greece will recognize the Ukrainian schismatics. The latest news on the matter came on August 29, when it was reported that the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece recognizes the right of the Phanar to “grant autocephalies” but also stopped short of specifically recognizing the Ukrainian schismatics. The issue of recognizing the schismatic OCU within the Greek Church is highly polarizing, unlike in the Polish or Serbian Churches where there is virtual unanimity among the bishops. Some…

Read More

Source: Orthodox Synaxis The Greek original with the list of signatories can be found here. Your Beatitude, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, Most Reverend Metropolitans of the Church of Greece, Your Beatitude, Your Eminences, As members of the Orthodox Church and, in spirit, children of Your episcopal-fatherly responsibility, we feel the need to address You as our spiritual and ecclesiastical Fathers and to express our unease and distress over the uncanonical granting of Ukrainian autocephaly. We share Your anguish and serious ecclesiological and canonical hesitations and reservations as they have been stated expressly or even silently according to the…

Read More

Source: Interfax It is not a secret that not only faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church, but all zealous adherents of Orthodox plenitude considered a hard strike the conciliatory and permissive position taken by the majority of inhabitants of the honored for centuries among church people Mount Athos on Constantinople’s monstrous actions taken from August 2018 on recognizing Ukrainian schism and entering in full church communication and unity, especially liturgical, with schismatics. The Constantinople Patriarchate roughly violated all canonical and moral norms, it has not “legitimated” schism, but it has thrown itself into illegal schismatic abyss, supporting secular persecutors of…

Read More

Source: Orthodox Christianity ATHENS — The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church has once again delayed its decision about whether or not to recognize the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU). Having heard the proposals of the Synodal committees on dogmatic and canonical issues and on inter-Orthodoxy and inter-Christian relations at its 3-day session this week, the Synod “recognize[d] the Ecumenical Patriarch’s canonical right to issue the status of Autocephaly,” reports Romfea. It is unclear if the Synod is speaking of Constantinople’s rights in general or specifically in the Ukrainian situation, though, predictably, Constantinople-aligned Greek and Ukrainian sources were quick to proclaim that the…

Read More

Source: OCP Media Network Sophia Iliadi – Independent Article – 27/6/19 The Orthodox world is facing a total rearrangement. The balance of powers and the distribution of influence between 14 mutually recognized Local Orthodox Churches is shifting as the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, historically first among equal autocephalous Churches, has completely lost its weight. This is happening against the background of an unfolding crisis, which Orthodoxy hasn’t witnessed since the Great Schism of 1054. The threat of a new schism emerged because of Patriarch Bartholomew’s ambitions who claims he is the leader of the Orthodox world. The division affects nearly…

Read More