Phanar: We could establish autocracy in the Church but did not do it

The Phanar head in the main cathedral of the OCU. Photo: pomisna.info

On August 21, 2021, Patriarch Bartholomew said that the Patriarchate of Constantinople could establish autocracy in Orthodoxy but did not do it, reports the official website of the OCU.

During the "doxology" at the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said that Phanar "was originally a reliable guardian of the good of the Church, and although at the time of its heyday and numerical strength it could introduce and establish a pyramidal form of the structure of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it rejected this idea with disgust and did not deviate either from the ecclesiology passed on to him or from the system of "Pentarchy" established and sanctified by the Councils."

He also said that Phanar "never mentions the days of great grief, slaps, grievances and nails but always follows the path of forgiveness, beneficence and healing of all their children, without exception."

“These are the privileges of the Great Church, which those who speak about the primacy of the see, worldly claims and political aspirations blame it for,” said Patriarch Bartholomew.

According to him, "the only privilege that characterizes the Throne of the Church of Constantinople is pride in the Lord". This, Patriarch Bartholomew believes, "is the privilege of sacrifice, from which both the primacy of exhaustion and the obligation of sacrificial service follow".

He noted that even today the “Church of the Poor of Christ”, clothed “in the bloody purple mantle of the victim”, cares “about the unity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine and about the progress and well-being of the entire Ukrainian people”.

As reported, Phanar head said: "All ‘new’ Churches are created from our body.

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