Patriarch Kirill declares Patriarch Bartholomew “lapsed into Schism”
(Source) In an official press release issued by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Patriarch Kirill, head of the Moscow Patriarchate, stated:
“And we humanly very much [sic] upset by the fact that today the Patriarch of Constantinople has lapsed into schism because he took communion together with schismatics and recognized self-ordained clergy who do not have lawful consecration by canonical hierarchs.”
The statement was made by Patriarch Kirill during an awards ceremony for Met. Hilarion (Afleyev) and Abp. Leonid of Kiln, as well as two other clergy.
Strangely, Patriarch Kirill made other remarks stating that: “And how did we managed [sic] to act otherwise when living in an atheistic state? You will not scare us by any campfire story, as we went through everything and did not stop communion with any Local Orthodox Church, which in our country were often called ‘henchmen of the American imperialism.'”
This statement is odd since it is a well-known fact that the modern MP, created in the early 1940s by Marxist-Leninist Athetist Soviet power, did, in fact, make multitudes of compromises [beginning with its very existence]. Though, it is certainly true, on the other hand, that some of the so-called “Local Orthodox Churches”, notably, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, were, in fact, agents of American [and previously, British] Imperialism.
A recent conference hosted in Moscow by Patriarch Kirill, “World Orthodoxy: Primacy and Conciliarity in the Light of the Orthodox Doctrine”, had several condemnatory reports delivered against the Phanar and its ever-growing Neo-Papist pretensions. A synopsis of the Conference can be found in English posted by the “Union of Orthodox Journalists” [an organization of Ukrainian journalists opposed to the actions of the Phanar in Ukraine]. However, absent from the synopsis is any condemnation of the Ecumenist Heresy, though, this is likely due to continuing positive relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican, the Monophysites, and other historically heretical organizations.
However, this November, at a Sobor of the Moscow Patriarchate, further formalized actions and policies are expected to be put into place against the Phanar, with the UOJ article stating:
“The near-term outlook for the developments after the conference is the holding of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in November 2021, at which the Phanar’s actions will be assessed at the level of the hierarchy. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said about this: “I would like to note particularly the importance of this conference, because the upcoming Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church will assess what we are now witnessing in the Orthodox world, and if it pleases the Holy Spirit and the assembled bishops, it will make a decision regarding the position of our Church in relation to the acts of Constantinople.””
Patriarch Kirill’s declaration was made in conjunction with the MP’s preparations to receive, according to Interfax-Religion, “hundreds” of Alexandrian Patriarchate clergy into its communion; this decision was made by the MP due to the Patriarch of Alexandria’s concelebration with the Phanar-backed Ukrainian group.