Phanar Archon on Ukraine: No church should be seized by force

Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Ilias Damianakis (left) with Archbishop Elpidophoros. Photo: Ilias Damianakis/Facebook

Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Ilias Damianakis published an article on his Substack blog titled "A Parody of Canonical Order." In it, he responded to the appeal by Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv to Patriarch Bartholomew to help stop violence and the seizures of churches in Ukraine.

The author acknowledged, “No Christian should justify violence. No parish should be seized by force. No believer should be treated as an enemy because of his ecclesiastical affiliation. These matters must be resolved lawfully, peacefully, and with pastoral seriousness.”

However, according to him, behind the Metropolitan's appeal lies "a contradiction so large that it cannot be concealed by episcopal vestments, solemn titles, or the repeated invocation of 'canonical order'."

The Archon claims that that Metropolitan Theodosiy "wants Constantinople to intervene in Ukraine, while rejecting the ecclesiastical authority by which Constantinople acted in Ukraine." He refers to issuing the Tomos of Autocephaly to OCU in 2019. "Does Constantinople possess authority in Ukraine, or does it not? If it does not, then Metropolitan Theodosiy has no coherent basis for demanding that Constantinople solve Ukraine’s ecclesiastical disputes. If it does, then he cannot invoke that authority only when he wants protection for the structure that refuses to acknowledge Constantinople’s decision," the author reasons.

He called Metropolitan Theodosiy's appeal "duplicity unworthy of an episcopal see." According to the Archon, the hierarch “he protests only the wound that is visible while refusing to name the disease that lies beneath it.”

"Peace cannot mean preserving Russian ecclesiastical domination," the author stressed. He sees the path forward in "repentance from the theology of empire, recognition of the autocephalous Church of Ukraine, and restoration of communion."

At the same time, the Archon never specified who exactly is seizing UOC churches. He also made no mention of the fact that Metropolitan Theodosiy himself was injured during the seizure of the cathedral in Cherkasy. Furthermore, the author continues to associate the UOC with Moscow, even though as far back as May 2022, the Council at Feofania proclaimed the full independence and autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ilias Damianakis is an iconographer and businessman. He sponsored Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to Florida in 2006. Damianakis has held the title of Archon Maistoras of the Ecumenical Patriarchate since 2010.

Let us recall that Metropolitan Theodosiy, in an interview with the Greek agency Romfea, stated that the Ecumenical Patriarch has a real opportunity to stop the forcible seizures of churches in Ukraine and to end the religious conflict in the country but does not do so.

"Even now, Patriarch Bartholomew could intervene and influence his clerics in Ukraine, who in most cases are the instigators of these crimes," Metropolitan Theodosiy said. "All it would take is a public blessing to end the aggression, prohibit the seizure of churches, and stop the beating of believers... But unfortunately, that is not happening."

Thus, Damianakis’s publication can be viewed as an unofficial response from the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the UOC hierarch.

Previously, the UOJ reported that on October 17, 2024, supporters of the OCU seized St. Michael's Cathedral of the UOC in Cherkasy. Metropolitan Theodosiy suffered a concussion at the time and was hospitalized.

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