Phanar cleric: Jerusalem calls the role of Ecumenical Throne into question

Archimandrite Gerasimos Fragoulakis. Photo: orthodoxianewsagency

A cleric of the German Metropolis of the Church of Constantinople, Archimandrite Gerasimos Fragoulakis, published a critical analysis of a statement by Metropolitan Theodosios of Sebasteia (Jerusalem Patriarchate), in which the hierarch said his Church was prepared to provide a venue for a meeting of Primates aimed at resolving the Ukrainian issue.

The metropolitan mentioned that a council or consultation could be held in Jerusalem or in Amman.

In response, Archimandrite Gerasimos said that “behind the beautiful words there is a clear intention: to call into question the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – the First among equals – which alone possesses the institutional weight and canonical right to convene pan-Orthodox councils.”

Fragoulakis also called “pro-Russian” Metropolitan Theodosios’ words that he recognizes only the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onuphry. Quoting the hierarch, the Constantinople cleric put the word “canonical” in quotation marks, calling it “so-called.”

He said that “behind the ‘good intentions’ of dialogue there is an attempt to demonstrate one’s power and to diminish Constantinople’s ecumenical role. The invitation to be a ‘neutral’ host loses its weight when the Jerusalem Patriarchate itself declares that in Ukraine it accepts only one ecclesial form and despises any other lawful ecclesial presence.”

“This one-sided recognition represents not only a challenge to canonical order, but also a blow against conciliarity, the spiritual foundation of the Orthodox Church,” the cleric of the Church of Constantinople asserted.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Polish Church called for a pan-Orthodox council on Ukraine.

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