"That's exactly how it was!": The Phanar twisted a document published in the media regarding the establishment of the OCU to its own advantage

The Phanar has figured out how to use the recently published controversial document that revealed details about the creation of the OCU. The investigation, published by the Union of Orthodox Journalists in the U.S., which describes the events leading up to the so-called Unification Council, is, according to representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in fact “testifies to Constantinople’s persistent efforts to preserve ecclesiastical order, overcome the long-standing schism, and defend the Church’s canonical rights in the face of pressure from all sides.” This was reported by fosfanariou.gr.

The publication notes that the Patriarchate of Constantinople allegedly did not act as a “passive executor” of others’ political decisions. On the contrary, representatives of the Phanar reportedly conducted tough negotiations, insisting on strict adherence to ecclesiological and canonical principles. In particular, the document reveals details of tense discussions with the late head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate, whose demands for extraordinary powers were systematically rejected by the Patriarchate’s delegates as incompatible with Orthodox tradition.

According to the authors, Patriarch Bartholomew’s position deserves special attention. Despite long-standing accusations of corruption or concessions to political interests, the authors assert that “the Patriarch did not yield to pressure, even from Ukraine’s top political leadership.” At a critical moment, the head of the Phanar allegedly stated outright that he had no intention of “selling out the dignity of the Patriarchate” and was prepared to recall his representatives if the canonical privileges of the Mother Church were violated. ““At the Phanar, we have learned to fear no one and nothing when it comes to the rights that have belonged to the Church for centuries,” — the authors of the article note.

Thus, as noted in the publication, “the attempt to criticize the Patriarchate of Constantinople by publishing internal working documents backfired on the initiators themselves.” The authors add that the Phanar has proven itself “to be a responsible Mother Church that has taken upon itself the burden of a painful but necessary ‘surgical intervention’ to restore ecclesiastical unity and preserve canonical succession.”

As a reminder, an internal document of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was leaked to the public, shedding light on the events surrounding the so-called “Unification Council” held in Kyiv in December 2018. The process of establishing the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU) took place under strict control by state authorities and President Petro Poroshenko personally.