Greek theologian: Tomos for the OCU is based on heretical ecclesiology and has aggravated the schism

Greek theologian and doctoral student of the University of Athens Vasilios Touloumtsis has sharply criticized the granting of the Tomos on autocephaly to the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). In his opinion, the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople not only did not heal the church schism in Ukraine, but also aggravated it, as they were based on an erroneous, heretical ecclesiology, introducing a new model of church structure in the image of papal primacy. Tulumtsis’ words are reported by the Pravblog Telegram channel.

The main problem, according to Tulumtsis, is not the fact of issuing the Tomos, but the lack of canonical priesthood of those who received it. In his presentation at the international conference “The Crucifixion of Orthodoxy in the 21st Century,” he emphasized that the OCU was composed of groups that “have never been ordained within the Church.” “It is impossible for an administrative act, which autocephaly is, to unconditionally and, figuratively speaking, magically grant the priesthood to people who have never received it,” the theologian said. The result, he concluded, was the creation of a structure “possessing the Tomos of autocephaly, but which is not the Church.”

The researcher also rejected the arguments of Constantinople (Phanar), which referred to the practice of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of accepting former iconoclastic heretics. Tulumtsis pointed out a fundamental difference: iconoclastic bishops had canonical chiarotony before their heresy, while many Ukrainian schismatics did not have it at all. He recalled that Patriarch Bartholomew himself had previously publicly acknowledged their lack of ordination, which makes the subsequent actions of the Phanar internally contradictory.

According to Vassilios Touloumtsis, behind the decision on Ukraine is an attempt to introduce a new model of church structure – “ecclesiology of primacy” borrowed from the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. In this model, the unity of the Church is based not on a common faith and canonical tradition, but on communion with the “world’s first” hierarch – the Patriarch of Constantinople. According to the theologian, this is a concept alien to Orthodoxy, which places the administrative bond above sacramental reality.

Touloumtsis links this new doctrine to the theological ideas of the late Metropolitan John Zizioulas, which he characterizes as “heretical (Arian) Trinitarian theology.” According to this concept, just as in the Holy Trinity there is supposedly a “first” – God the Father – so in the Church there must be a “universal first” – the Ecumenical Patriarch, whose communion with him can make up for any canonical deficiencies, including the lack of apostolic succession. Thus, according to the Greek scholar, the Ukrainian question was only a “convenient case” for the practical application of this new ecclesiology, which led not to unity but to an “unlimited split of the ecclesiastical Body”.

We would like to remind you that earlier, Archbishop Silvestr (Stoychev), rector of the Kyiv Theological Seminary and Academy, commented on the validity of the priestly ordinations of representatives of the OCU. The hierarch asserts that the ordinations of a significant portion of the OCU clergy cannot be recognized due to canonical discrepancies and the canonical practice of the Church. In addition, the bishop is convinced that the existence of the Tomos of autocephaly of the OCU cannot in any way be a basis for changing the attitude towards this issue.