Phanar hierarch: OCU is a new and absolutely living reality

The hierarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Metropolitan Emmanuel (Adamakis) of Chalcedon, said that the issue of the creation of the OCU is not subject to revision. Emmanuel accused the Russian Orthodox Church of creating the largest schism in the Church since 1054, while “forcing the Local Churches to make a choice” in favor of Constantinople or Moscow.

According to ORTHODOXIANEWSAGENCY.GR, Metropolitan Emmanuel spoke at the Vilnius City Hall as part of an event dedicated to the topic “Constantinople and Moscow: Transformations of Church Affairs and the Impact of Imperial Policy”. In his report titled “The Ecclesiastical and Canonical Significance of Jurisdictional Changes,” the bishop paid special attention to the creation of the OCU, noting that the Ukrainian schism, despite its shortcomings, is a “new living reality.”

“The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is now an undeniable and absolutely living reality. Despite any institutional or structural shortcomings that inevitably accompany any human endeavor, we are talking about a large community of believers who are eagerly seeking their way to freedom in Christ – a truth that we must recognize with sincerity ,” Emmanuel said.

In addition, the bishop accused the Russian Orthodox Church of causing the largest split in Orthodoxy since 1054 due to its reaction to the creation of the OCU. At the same time, in his opinion, the Russian Orthodox Church is forcing the Local Churches to make a choice between Constantinople and Moscow.

“The Russian Church broke off communion with Phanar, putting the rest of the Orthodox Churches before a painful choice: Constantinople or Moscow? This is a wound on the body of the Church. Thus, in diplomatic terms, the question of who ultimately owns the Church remains essentially a matter of the soul. We know that believers in Kyiv or Lviv who go to church every Sunday carry their personal pain and human need, not the canons of the Council of Chalcedon. Institutions often treat this human need arbitrarily, causing damage to the church body in a way that canonical science and diplomacy cannot correct,” he added.

Earlier, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon has already stated that Phanar does not intend to reconsider the decision to legalize the OCU and grant the Tomos of autocephaly to Ukrainian schismatics. The hierarch said that the interest of certain parties to the interchurch conflict in such a development is the cause of “spiritual sickness” and “ecclesiological deviation.”