Archon: ROC will have its own Ecumenical Patriarchate if Phanar is expelled

Illustrative photo. Source: publicorthodoxy

"If the Turkish government forces the end of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s two-thousand-year-long presence in Constantinople, the chief beneficiaries will not be the Turks, but the Russians," said Rocky Sisson, an Archon of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, during his speech at a conference organized by the OSCE in Warsaw, as reported by Public Orthodoxy.

Sisson claimed that if his patriarchate is forced to leave Turkey, Russia is poised to take advantage of the situation.

"Putin and Kirill might establish a new, Russian Ecumenical Patriarchate, or simply claim for the Patriarchate of Moscow the canonical rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This would be part of Moscow’s efforts to secure control over the entire Orthodox Christian world, which would have far-reaching implications in both the geopolitical and religious spheres.," the Phanar Archon said.

Accordingly, "governments that are concerned about Russian expansionism and imperialism should make it a priority to work on multiple fronts to secure the presence and rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople."

He urged the governments of the organization's member states to "advocate for legal identity for the Ecumenical Patriarchate; advocate for the reopening of Halki; advocate to stop Russia's ambitions in Turkey."

As previously reported by the UOJ, Rocky Sisson also stated in his speech that in terms of Turkish law, the patriarchate (let alone the Ecumenical one) simply does not exist. He also recalled that in 1971, Turkish authorities forcibly closed the only theological school training clergy for the Phanar.

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