Patriarch Bartholomew troubled by “disorderly voices” criticizing his Church

Patriarch Bartholomew addressing the Romanian Synod. Photo: Nikos Papachristou

On October 27, 2025, in Bucharest, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, expressing concern over growing criticism of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from some Local Churches.

He spoke of the “pain of the Mother Church and her deep anxiety over the disorderly yet increasingly frequent voices of certain Local Churches claiming that she has lost her inherited responsibility,” asserting that “we are said to be living in a so-called post-Constantinopolitan period.”

Patriarch Bartholomew firmly rejected these claims: “The erroneous theory that the Archbishop of Constantinople has lost his ‘appellate’ responsibility, and the consequences arising from it, do not escape the notice of people of truth.”

He sharply criticized Churches that question Constantinople’s authority: “Their institutional origin and structure exist solely through the exhaustive care of the Holy Great Church of Christ. With such assertions, they destroy themselves and negatively affect the Church’s present.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Bucharest, amid cries of “Anathema,” Patriarch Bartholomew commemorated Dumenko.

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