PCA priest calls for suspension of membership in U.S. Bishops' Assembly over scandalous statement by Phanar archons

An influential priest of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Archpriest Thomas Soroka, has called on the Holy Synod to suspend or completely terminate the OCA’s membership in the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States. The move was a reaction to a recent statement by the Archons of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which labeled the inter-Orthodox delegation discussing the persecution of the UOC as “agents of the Russian state.”

According to UOJ.news, the priest was angered by the fact that the Archons accused a delegation that had previously met with the Trump administration to discuss the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of working for Russia. That delegation included representatives from the Greek and Antiochian archdioceses, the OCA, ROCOR and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

“I am absolutely shocked by the statement of these ‘rulers’ (ἄρχοντες),” Fr. Thomas on his Facebook page. He urged the hierarchs of the OCA: “I implore the bishops of the Orthodox Church in America to seriously consider suspending your participation in the so-called ‘Assembly of Bishops,’ if not completely withdrawing from it.”

The priest warned the bishops, stating, “You are being held for fools.” He said “parallel church structures” were being set up in the country, in direct contradiction to the aims of the Assembly. He also noted that these structures are using exiled clergy, “mocking long-established, venerable jurisdictions.” О. Thomas emphasized that the faithful will not silently watch as the history and authority of their Church is “ignored, denigrated and discredited for political and strategic gain.”

Archpriest Thomas Soroka concluded by calling on the OCA Holy Synod to “register its displeasure with the extremely disgusting accusations” against the delegates, who, he said, were acting as full-fledged U.S. citizens. “Suspend your participation in the Assembly,” he concluded, ” until sanity is restored and truth prevails.

Recall, the Order of Archons of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the United States made sharp accusations against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), saying that it persecutes and attacks members of the OCU. The statement was made in response to a meeting between a delegation of US Orthodox churches and US politicians, where the plight of the canonical UOC was discussed.