The head of the Phanar called the Patriarchs of Moscow and Serbia "violators of church order," threatening them with "retribution before God"

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople issued a strongly worded statement addressed to the Primates of the Moscow and Serbian Patriarchates, stating that those who oppose the canonical order of the Orthodox Church will sooner or later be held accountable before God. The statement was made in the presence of the heads of the Orthodox Churches of Alexandria and Albania on the island of Imbros, where celebrations were held to mark the 65th anniversary of the Patriarch’s ordination. This was reported by the Orthodoxia News Agency ( ).

In his speech, Patriarch Bartholomew once again sharply criticized the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate, accusing it of an anti-canonical incursion into the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. According to the Patriarch, instead of supporting missionary work in Africa, the Russian Church is creating parallel structures and engaging in competition, which contradicts the spirit of unity of the Orthodox faith. Bartholomew called such actions “a manifestation of ingratitude toward the Mother Church, from which Christian values were once received.”

In addition, Patriarch Bartholomew made an unambiguous reference to the Serbian Orthodox Church. He emphasized the importance of observing the tradition of a “peace visit” to the Ecumenical Patriarch for all newly elected primates of the Local Churches. The Patriarch noted that, although more than three years have passed since the election of Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, the visit to Constantinople has not yet taken place, even though during that time he has already visited a number of other Local Churches. In doing so, he emphasized the need to observe the hierarchical order, which is the foundation of inter-church relations.

It should be recalled that earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople stated that he does not intend to convene a Pan-Orthodox Council on the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly.