The head of the American Archdiocese of the Phanar called on the Romanian authorities to influence the Romanian Church on the issue of recognizing the PCU

Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America, during a meeting with the Romanian Foreign Minister, unexpectedly expressed support for the recognition of the OCU by the Romanian Patriarchate. This step is remarkable, as previously the hierarch was not seen in active public promotion of the interests of the OCU and even criticized its primate.

According to the Telegram channel Chryzma, during a conversation with Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Tsoiu, Archbishop Elpidophoros expressed hope for the early recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly. According to him, such a step would be «a natural confirmation of the long tradition of independence and leadership of the Romanian Church in the region.»

Such rhetoric from the head of the American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople looks unusual. The source notes that lobbying the interests of the OCU is traditionally considered the sphere of influence of his rival for the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon. In addition, this topic is highly controversial because of the involvement of the OCU representatives in the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

It is noteworthy that earlier this year Archbishop Elpidophoros publicly criticized the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko for violating the provisions of the tomos on autocephaly. In this regard, the abrupt change of position raises questions in the expert community. As one of the possible reasons is called the recent visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States, which could affect the rhetoric of the hierarch.

Earlier it was reported that the head of the American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Archbishop Elpidophoros criticized Epiphany Dumenko for violating certain clauses of the Tomos on autocephaly of the OCU. Yelpidofor noted that the head of the OCU turns a blind eye to the fact that representatives of the organization open parishes abroad, despite the fact that the Tomos directly prohibits the OCU to do so.