Serbian priest calls OCU tomos a violation of canonical norms

Fr. Miladin Mitrović. Photo: UOJ in Serbia

Serbian Orthodox priest Miladin Mitrović commented on the consequences of the Ukrainian church schism during the international conference “Protection of Religious Rights and Orthodox Heritage” held in Belgrade, according to UOJ in Serbia.

The event was organized by the Institute for Geostrategic Studies and took place at the press center of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia. Mitrović’s presentation was titled “The Canonical Unity of Orthodoxy as an Important Element of Geopolitical Stability in the Contemporary World.”

The priest stated that the open division within Orthodoxy is directly connected to the granting of the tomos of autocephaly to the Ukrainian schismatics by the Constantinopolitan Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. He described this move as a “gross violation of the canonical norms of the Orthodox Church.”

According to Mitrović, the Phanar’s unilateral decisions led to a serious crisis in relations among the Local Orthodox Churches. He stressed that the Ukrainian issue has gone far beyond a local dispute and has become one of the key matters in contemporary inter-Orthodox relations. The priest also noted that the majority of the Local Orthodox Churches have not recognized the OCU.

Mitrović called on all Local Churches to seek ways to overcome divisions through conciliar dialogue. He proposed organizing a new meeting in Amman and appealed to Theophilos III of Jerusalem to initiate a conciliar discussion on overcoming the crisis in the Orthodox world.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the Bishops’ Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church spoke out in defense of the UOC. The Serbian Orthodox Church has consistently advocated for preserving canonical structures in the Orthodox world and does not recognize the OCU.

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