Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew says it is difficult for opponents of the OCU’s autocephaly to accept reality and that they fail to properly understand the canons of the Church, while the Moscow Patriarchate is not interested in maintaining canonical order.
“The problem with these people is that they find it difficult or refuse to recognize the reality. They are also ignorant of what autocephaly means, as well as the history and canonical practice of how it is granted. The Church of Russia, where they wish to belong, received its autocephaly and patriarchal status from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Why is it that they do not want to accept the validity of the same canonical justification for autocephaly in the case of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine that proved valid for the Orthodox Church of Russia and the other Orthodox Churches that were granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate?” Bartholomew told Ukrinform in an interview.
He explained that what is actually uncanonical is the questioning of intervention by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
“Clearly, they are not interested at all in the canonical order because, in our case, they evidently give priority to foreign interests and not ecclesiastical criteria,” the Ecumenical Patriarch said.
