Growing Rift Between Russian And Greek Orthodox Chruch Over Ukraine Question
On November 3, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Kirill, declined to commemorate the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos, in prayers during the Divine Liturgy at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The Greek Primate’s name was omitted in response to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece to confirm the latter’s right to handle the issue of autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. By the same decision, the Holy Synod acknowledged the Ecumenical Patriarch’s privilege to grant the Tomos of Autocephaly.
“… we (the Moscow Patriarchate) said that if the Archbishop of Athens officially recognizes the Ukrainian schism, that his name will be deleted from the diptychs of the Russian Orthodox Church. What does this mean? That during Divine Liturgies the (Russian) Patriarch (Kirill) will not commemorate the Archbishop of Athens, just as the Patriarch of Constantinople (Bartholomew) is not commemorated… In other words, we are suspending the Eucharistic communion with the Archbishop of Athens,” the Russian Church’s Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, His Eminence Hilarion, commented.
It should be noted that the decision of the Greek Holy Synod to de-facto support the creation of the ‘independent’ Orthodox Church of Ukraine caused mixed responses from Greek hierarchs. Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus and Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythera have already sent a joint letter-appeal to all local Orthodox churches calling on them to hold the Pan-Orthodox Council on the Ukraine question. Additionally, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus emphasized that the Ukrainian schism is a dagerous development that may have negative consequences to the Orthodox World.
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