ROC head: Attempts to impose special powers of Pat. Bartholomew are sinful
Patriarch Kirill and Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: ROC Press Service
Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church rejected the doctrine of the primacy of the Constantinople Patriarch's authority in the Orthodox world. Speaking on April 22, 2026, at the Russian Foreign Ministry's Reception House, he stated that "any attempts to present one of our brothers as possessing special authority over the entire Orthodox oecumene are sinful from the standpoint of violating church laws."
"Unfortunately, a doctrine alien to Orthodoxy about special authoritative powers of my brother, the Constantinople Patriarch, continues to be imposed from outside," concluded the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Metropolitan Mark of Berlin, a particular test for Orthodox unity was the imposition by the Constantinople Church of the status of first without equals, which began to be actively promoted after the Council of Crete in 2016.
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