The head of the OCU on Mount Athos accused the ROC of violating “canonical order”

During his visit to Mount Athos, the head of the OCU, Epiphanius Dumenko, gave a speech in which he sharply condemned the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, drawing parallels with the biblical story of Ahab. Dumenko accused the ROC of “disregarding canonical church order and refusing unity with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.” At the same time, the head of the OCU expressed his deep gratitude to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, “with whose blessing” the visit to Athos took place.

During his speech at the skete of the prophet Elijah, according to the Orthodox Times, Epiphany directly accused the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church of “violating the canons of the Orthodox Church.” “Just as King Ahab despised Jerusalem and the temple of God, so today the new Ahabs from the northern lands despise the canonical order established by the Fathers and the Ecumenical Councils. They reject the primacy of ministry that belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarch and refuse to remain in ecclesiastical unity with their Mother, the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople,” Dumenko emphasized.