Expert: Phanar is only interested in expanding its influence
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
The Church of Constantinople is interested in expanding its influence. This view was expressed by the political analyst Kirill Molchanov in the programme “Right to Faith”.
“Constantinople is not strongly interested in building in Ukraine another Local Church,” the expert noted. “It is just interested in expanding its influence on this territory. Bartholomew has practically no parishes. He is a king without a kingdom. ”
According to Molchanov, Patriarch Bartholomew is playing a longer game beyond the aspirations and desires the President of Ukraine is pursuing today. At the same time, the true desire of Ukraine’s leadership is the creation of the state-controlled Church.
“To make a model of some kind of ‘state Orthodoxy’ as it was several centuries ago. Ideally, they would like to appoint themselves the patriarchs under them. They are following such logic, trying to give it an external compliance with canons,” the political expert concluded.
Earlier, Archimandrite Kirill (Govorun) said that the metropolis in Ukraine is most consistent with the corporate interests of the Church of Constantinople. As the UOJ reported, following the meeting of the Synod of the Church of Constantinople, the legal obligation of the Synodal letter of 1686 to hand over the Kiev Metropolis was cancelled.
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