Moscow Patriarchate to Phanar: You can pray with other heretics, just not the Ukrainian ones.
October 15, 2015 (Source: http://www.spc.rs/eng)
On October 11, 2015, the 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference was opened at the Orthodox Center of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Chambesy near Geneva. It is chaired by Metropolitan John of Pergamon, Patriarchate of Constantinople.
His Grace Metropolitan Jeremiah of Switzerland officiated the Holy Liturgy in the church of Saint Paul the Apostle. He was concelebrated by representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches. The working session began on Monday, October 12th, 2015. By the decision of the Holy Synod of Bishops, the Serbian Orthodox Church is represented at this conference by His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Backa and protopresbyter Gajo Gajic.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s delegation, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), greeted the participants on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and conveyed to them wishes of success in their work.
On the instruction of Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Hilarion expressed the Russian Orthodox Church’s special concern for the situation in the Middle East, where the raging terrorism threatens the very existence of the Christian community, and called to joint efforts to ensure that our brothers and sisters in the Middle East could feel safe.
The DECR chairman informed the conference about the results reached by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church which had considered draft conciliar documents and sent its response to the secretariat for preparing a Holy and Great Council.
On the instruction of Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Hilarion expressed the Russian Orthodox Church’s deep concern over the anti-canonical actions made by hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Ukrainian church structures in the USA and Canada as they arrive in Ukraine allegedly on behalf to the Patriarch of Constantinople without informing about it the canonical Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, come into contact with the schismatics, declare the alleged readiness of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to grant autocephaly to the schismatics, challenge the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s universally recognized canonical acts of the past centuries, accept with honour the persons defrocked and excommunicated from the Church, letting them ‘celebrate’ in their churches and praying together with them. ‘We ask the Patriarchate of Constantinople to give an assessment to these anti-canonical actions and oblige these hierarchs to stop such actions destroying our pan-Orthodox unity’, Metropolitan Hilarion stated.
NFTU: The Moscow Patriarchate is upset about Phanar prelates interacting with Ukrainian autocephalists and praying with them, yet, it seems to remain in blissful aloofness about the Phanar prelates activity with Muslims, Papists, Protestants, Jews, etc, i.e., joint prayers, religious services. In other words, the MP’s outrage is selective and pursuing a purely nationalist and foreign policy objective. It is not a sincere objection to joint prayers with non-Orthodox. If the MP threatens to ‘break communion with Constantinople’ over the Phanar’s interference in Ukraine, yet, it has no problem with its long history of ecumenism (which outdoes the MP’s on many levels), it is a simple demonstration that the one thing the World ‘Orthodox’ can’t abide is ‘loss of their territory’ (many will even ‘convert to Islam’ instead of loosing their buildings), with the Orthodox Faith being merely a mask for long term power objectives. Is there any wonder why, considering this, the numbers have been so small of those who stand up for Orthodoxy and break communion with the modernist-ecumenist heresy according to the teachings of the Scriptures, Fathers, Councils, Canons, and Saints?
