Orthodoxtimes responded to the decision of the Synod of the GOC for the actions of the Phanar regarding the Church of Georgia

Close to the Phanar website orthodoxtimes reacted to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church of February 11, 2021, where it was discussed the need to study the non-canonical actions of Patriarch Bartholomew regarding the GOC in the event of the ordination of a Georgian cleric in Istanbul.

At the same time, the website published some quotes from a letter from the hierarch of the GOC, Archbishop Zeno (head of the diocese in Great Britain and Ireland), which was written on July 13, 2020. A month earlier, on June 13, 2020, the head of the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew, ordained the Georgian cleric Irakli Jinjolava without coordinating this action with the head of the GOC.

It is informed that “recent developments in the Patriarchate of Georgia are particularly serious regarding the relations of the Patriarchate with the Phanar”. In a letter Archbishop Zeno stressed that “the report of the representatives of the Patriarchate of Georgia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the political mandate to the Embassy and Consulate of Georgia in Turkey that the ambassador, the consul or any representative must not attend the Divine Liturgy performed by the Ecumenical Patriarch is considered a declaration of secret war against the Ecumenical Patriarch.”

On his part, the Ambassador of Georgia to Turkey, Giorgi Janjgava, published a post on Facebook in which he refuted the claims of Archbishop Zenon:“I will have relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew,” he wrote.