Legoyda: Phanar cannot resolve the situation around Orthodoxy in Ukraine

Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church, Society and Media Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: TASS

The Patriarch of Constantinople cannot resolve the current problem around the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church, Society and Media Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, told journalists on Thursday, as reported by “Interfax”.

"We are aware that Archbishop Chrysostomos II [the head of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus] has been making certain efforts to resolve the current situation in Ukraine. I would say that, first of all, this attests to the Patriarch of Constantinople's present inability to resolve, once again, the complex Ukrainian situation compounded by well-known anti-canonical decisions made in Phanar," said Legoyda.

He reminded that the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly stressed the desire and the need for a pan-Orthodox decision on this issue because it cannot be resolved unilaterally.

"I think that to some extent [Chrysostomos'] actions can be considered in line with the ROC proposal (...) He has consistently held talks with representatives from various local Churches, telling of the need to resolve the problem," Legoyda said.

As the UOJ reported, the ROC assessed the letter of Patriarch Bartholomew to the Primate of the Albanian Church, in which he provided justifications for granting members of the schismatic structures of the UOC KP and the UAOC the Tomos of autocephaly. In this message, the Patriarch of Constantinople emphasized the exceptional role of his Church in world Orthodoxy and its right to solve the problems of other Churches, which they cannot resolve on their own.

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