“They have gained freedom of conscience”: Patriarch Bartholomew once again praised himself for creating the OCU

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, continuing his visit to the United States of America, with enviable regularity justifies the establishment of the OCU and the granting of the Tomos of autocephaly to non-canonical church associations in Ukraine. This time, speaking with a report to the Council on Foreign Relations on September 19, he once again praised his own decision to legalize the Ukrainian schism, noting that Ukrainians “have gained the long-awaited freedom of conscience.” The report was published on the Phanar’s website.

According to the head of the Phanar, the Russian Orthodox Church has fallen into the heresy of ethnophilitism, in the context of which it develops the imperial doctrine of the “Russian world” and even tries to renew and consolidate its influence on the territory of the “former Soviet empire”.

“That is why in 2019 our Ecumenical Patriarchate realized the hope of the Ukrainian people to establish their own self-governing, autocephalous church. Ukrainians have longed for freedom of conscience during more than 70 years of oppression under the Russian Soviet system, which restored the Moscow Patriarchate in 1917 to use it for its own purposes. After Stalin nearly destroyed all traces of Orthodox Christianity in the USSR, he was forced to revive it in 1943 to resist the Nazi invaders. Unfortunately, despite the fall of communism, the Russian Church remains an instrument of the state. However, Ukrainians are no longer subject to the Church, which has compromised – they have found the desired freedom of conscience,” – said Patriarch Bartholomew.

We will remind, recently Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said that he does not intend to cancel the Tomos on autocephaly of the PCU. In his opinion, the process of autocephaly of the “Ukrainian church” is irreversible, the UOC and the OCU should unite, and this will be followed by the recognition of other local churches. The head of the Phanar believes that this will happen “in the coming years or decades”.