DECR ROC: The position of Patriarch Bartholomew is shameful and absurd

Metropolitan Hilarion. Photo: rbc.ru

The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR MP), Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, said that the situation created in Ukraine by Patriarch Bartholomew is shameful and absurd, reports the website of the DECR ROC.

In the opinion of Metropolitan Hilarion, having granted the Tomos to the Ukrainian schismatics, “Patriarch Bartholomew made a mistake in 2018 that he does not want to repent of”.

Commenting on the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine, Metropolitan Hilarion said that the Phanar head, “trying to pass off his wishful thinking, comes to a group of schismatics and says: here is the real Church, and there (in the UOC – Ed.) are just some titular bishops".

“The Church, in which there are more than 12 thousand parishes, more than 250 monasteries, more than a hundred bishops and millions of believers, is simply ignored by Patriarch Bartholomew, who pretends that it does not exist. This is an absurd and shameful situation, and only one person is guilty of it – Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople,” said the head of the DECR ROC.

Recalling the evangelical expression “by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7, 16), Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk emphasized: “This shameful visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine became a demonstration for the whole world of the fruits of the deeds that he performed.”

In the opinion of Metropolitan Hilarion, the “priesthood” of the OCU are impostors legitimized by the Phanar.

Read also

DESS: The number of communities joining OCU in 2024 is half of last year’s

Over a year, 232 communities of the UOC changed their jurisdiction.

Scale of internal damage to UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia shown online

The video allows viewers to assess the damage endured by the main Orthodox church of the UOC in Zaporizhzhia.

Ex-MP UOC protodeacon Novinsky declared suspicion of high treason

The former MP is accused of "ensuring that a significant part of Ukrainian society, who are believers of the UOC, remain under the direct influence of the leader of the ROC".

St Andrew’s icon survives under the rubble of UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia

The icon was painted by nuns of the St Nicholas Monastery in Patras (Greece) and consecrated on the relics of St Andrew the Apostle.

RF missile strike destroys St Andrew's Cathedral of UOC in Zaporizhzhia

The fragments damaged the roof of the building, dome, ceilings, cut windows and disfigured classrooms.

Media shows conditions in which persecuted communities of Volyn have to pray

After their churches were seized, UOC faithful are compelled to pray in poorly equipped facilities.