Metropolitan Amfilohije: Phanar’s decision on Ukraine is a disaster

Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral. Photo: Glas Srpske

By its decisions on Ukraine, the Patriarchate of Constantinople harmed both itself and the unity of all Orthodoxy. This was announced by Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radović) of Montenegro and the Littoral in an interview with the Serbian newspaper Glas Srpske, published on February 5.

“As for Montenegro, it (Constantinople – Ed.) will not change its position for sure,” said the hierarch, answering the question about the possibility of granting autocephaly to the schismatic Montenegrin church. “As regards the Church in Macedonia, this is another business. I hope that without an agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church, it will not do this.”

Otherwise, he believes, "it will be simply catastrophic both for Phanar and for the Orthodox Church as a whole."

“And what happened with Ukraine is now disastrous for the current and future status of the Patriarchate of Constantinople,” the Metropolitan emphasized.

Speaking of the splits in Orthodoxy caused by the decree of Phanar to bestow the Tomos to the schismatic structure in Ukraine, the Metropolitan noted that the SOC is close to both Constantinople and Moscow but "the Church of God, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic is closest".

“We endlessly respect Constantinople, we are born there; on the other hand, by faith, language and blood, we are close to Russians. Constantinople has long been crucified and is facing hard times, but the current situation around the Ukrainian Church harms both Constantinople and the unity of Orthodoxy,” the hierarch explained.

Recall that earlier the head of the Montenegrin schismatics, Mikhail Dedeic, said that without the church structure headed by him with its “century-old property”, Montenegro would not be a full-fledged state, while expressing the conviction that the “Montenegrin Church” would soon receive the full recognition from the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In turn, Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radović) of Montenegro and the Littoral called on the Montenegrin authorities not to repeat the erors and crimes against the Church that were committed in Ukraine.

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