The grave consequences of the non-canonical actions of Constantinople are already obvious to everyone, - ROC hierarch

The chairman of the DECR of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, in an exclusive interview with the Serbian newspaper Vjesti, published on the official website of the Serbian Orthodox Church, spoke about the consequences of Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims to the role of “Eastern pope”.

“Indeed, in recent years, Patriarch Bartholomew has not acted as a coordinator in relations between the Orthodox, as he once called himself. He acts as if all power belongs to him, and he is not responsible in front of anyone, he acts as the head of the Church of Christ. Such a tendency to rule does not correspond to Orthodox teaching.

The grave consequences of the non-canonical actions of Constantinople in relation to Orthodoxy are already obvious for everyone, and if he does not change his behavior, the split will be deeper and deeper. The dividing line runs neither between Constantinople and Moscow, nor between Greeks and Slavs. It divides hierarchs and believers into those who are faithful to the canons and those who violate them. I hope that the final split of Orthodoxy will not occur and that the unity in our common Orthodox family will be renewed,”- the metropolitan said.