The head of the ROC’s Department of External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), met with the new Qatari ambassador to Russia, Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani. The participants discussed ways to overcome religious extremism, counter terrorism and oppression of religious minorities, as well as talked on “other aspects of cooperation.”
Russian experts from the Chrisma Center suggested that the issue of inter-Orthodox relations was also raised at the talks.
It noted that the issue of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Qatar led to a crisis in relations between the Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, which ultimately was among the reasons why the Church of Antioch did not participate in the anti-canonical meeting in Amman in 2020.
The reason behind deteriorating relations between the two Churches was the establishment of the Diocese of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in Qatar, which the Antiochians consider their own urisdiction. The patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch have repeatedly tried to find a solution to the issue, including with the help of the Church of Cyprus.
If the issue of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Qatar could be resolved, Russian experts say this would remove the main obstacle to the full involvement of the Church of Antioch in the anti-canonical “Amman meeting”, which Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem intends to convene, again, upon the Kremlin’s order.
Thus, the ROC decided to appease the Antioch OC and “reconcile” it with the Jerusalem Church in order to at least somehow rehabilitate itself in the eyes of global Orthodoxy after last year’s “Amman” meeting was held with a record-low turnout of Church leaders.
As seen from such maneuvers in the inter-church arena, the ROC just can’t accept the granting of the tomos of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and is trying to stop its own collapse, whose process intensified after the said church document was issued. More than 600 parishes have already joined the Ukrainian Church, while a number of monks, priests, and metropolitans have quit the Moscow Patriarchate. Religious scholars are convinced that a new round of transitions to the OCU ranks will be observed following the Ukraine visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the 30th anniversary of the country’s Independence.
It should be recalled that in March 2021, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s external relations service Hilarion (Alfeev) branded Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as “illegitimate” and expressed hope for a reunion of the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches in the “Amman format.” Metropolitan of the ROC in Ukraine Antoniy (Pakanych) and ROC Bishop Viktor (Kotsaba) have expressed the same opinion.
Russia is sponsoring the construction of a temple for the Jerusalem Patriarchate, while the FSB security agency envoys took part in the celebration of Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus II’s nameday. Russia exploits the Patriarch of Jerusalem as a tool to oppose jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch. To this end, Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem has called for a re-run of the non-canonical Amman meeting, although last year’s “Amman” failed – the fact which even Russian experts have recognized.
Last year’s meeting in Amman was a complete failure for the ROC. Eventually, instead of the announced All-Orthodox Council in Amman, the meeting boiled down to the one between a Serbian Patriarch and Russia’s Kirill, with the mediation of Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem.
As noted by the OCU spokesman, Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zorya), “appealing to the All-Orthodox discussion of the tomos is hypocrisy on the part of the ROC.” He also said that to deny the tomos is to question the autocephaly of 10 of 15 Orthodox churches.
