A Serbian publicist criticized the concept of the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople as a "heresy of Eastern papism"

The recent interview of Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon with the Greek publication Kathimerini has once again sparked heated discussions in the Orthodox world. In the center of attention was the concept of the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople, which, according to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), undermines the foundations of Ecumenical Orthodoxy and represents «the heresy of Eastern papism». Serbian publicist Bogdan Despotovic wrote about it in a publication on the portal «Zhivot Crkve».

According to the publication, Metropolitan Emmanuel explicitly called Patriarch Bartholomew the «Primate of Orthodoxy» (Greek Ο Προκαθήμενος της Ορθοδοξίας), contrasting the «freedom of the Phanar» (the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople) with the «slavish dependence» of some other Local Churches. This rhetoric confirms the concerns previously formulated by the Russian Orthodox Church in the document «On the distortion of the Orthodox doctrine of the Church in the writings of the hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the speeches of its representatives,» approved by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Phanar’s main thesis — the concept of «the first without equals» (primus sine paribus) — actually elevates the Patriarch of Constantinople to the rank of the earthly head of the Universal Church. The Moscow Patriarchate considers such claims unfounded, pointing out that they contradict the principle of sobornost, according to which the highest authority is the fullness of the Church, not one hierarch. Orthodoxy confesses that only the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Universal Church, and the attempt to appoint His «earthly deputy» with special privileges violates the very foundations of the faith.

According to the assessment of the ROC, the recognition of Istanbul’s right to be the «supreme judge» and «head of Orthodoxy» turns the very essence of the autocephaly of the Local Churches into a fiction, and the sobornost is replaced by the dictate of one throne. There cannot exist in the Orthodox Church a Primate with special privileges in comparison with other Princes.

The author raises the question of the protracted silence of the theological community and Church diplomacy. The fundamental criticism of the ROC, which concerns the fate of the entire Orthodox world, has not yet become the subject of a broad inter-Orthodox discussion. The author of the article calls for the convening of round tables and international theological conferences with the participation of representatives of the Antiochian, Jerusalem, Serbian and other Churches.

The problem has long gone beyond the «struggle for jurisdiction» and has become a question of the defense of dogmas. If in the depths of Constantinople a new heresy has matured, claiming to reformat the entire structure of the Church according to the papal model, the reaction of the entire Orthodox world should be cathedral and immediate. It is time for an open dialog of all Local Churches, for an honest and objective discussion of topics affecting the future of Orthodoxy, and for the resuscitation of the «Amman Format» as a minimally necessary step.

Earlier, the hierarch of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Theodosius of Sebastia, announced the readiness of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to provide a venue for a church-wide council dedicated to resolving the crisis around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the problems in world Orthodoxy. The hierarch stressed that the leaders of the churches should meet to overcome the schism and restore unity, while recognizing exclusively the canonical UOC headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry.