The Russian Church Fulfills the Theory of "First Without Equals"

 

Concelebration of Primates at the Holy and Great Synod (June 2016)

By Panagiotis Andriopoulos

 

The "traditionalists" in Greece associate Ukrainian Autocephaly with a "new Ecclesiology of the Phanar", as they characterize it, which wants the Ecumenical Patriarch "first without equals". In fact, they characterize it as an "ecumenistic theory".

This is not, of course, an invention on behalf of those who are anti-patriarchate's in Greece. They embody the theory developed by Moscow and is constantly being reproduced by the representatives of the Russian Church: from Hilarion of Volokolamsk to - recently - the rector of the Theological Academy of Kiev, Bishop Sylvestor of Bilogorodsk, who told us: "Representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople today are guided by the teaching of the special status and rights of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Among the followers of this teaching, one can name, for example, Metropolitan John Zizioulas and Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis)."

Commentary on the Opposition of the Russian Church to the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Occasion of the Interview of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk

 

 

By Kostas Karakotias

The establishment in the public sphere, but also in the minds and lives of people, of the pandemic and its tragic consequences does not cancel or suspend the efforts of many and various opposing social and ideological forces to consolidate and expand their political and cultural rule. Often this effort is manifested along narrow roads and in oblique ways. Suddenly in the [Greek] newspaper "Kathimerini", on Sunday 12/13/2020, a long interview of the Russian Metropolitan Hilarion, a close associate of the Patriarch of Moscow, was published. The exclusive topic of the interview was the secession of the Ukrainian Church from the Russian one and the recognition of its autocephaly by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The interviewee was a strong complainant towards the Patriarchate of Constantinople and even directly and personally against Patriarch Bartholomew himself, whom he even accused of "knowingly violating ecclesiastical canons to harm the Russian Church." Of course, even the most ignorant of the ecclesiastics realize that the Russian Church, which is completely connected to the Russian state and its international political interests, under the pretext of some alleged ecclesiastical reasons, is trying to maintain its influence in Ukraine and prevent its Church from being independent. Especially when the relations between Russia and Ukraine are extremely disturbed and whole areas of the latter have been almost annexed by the former. It is easy to understand the enormous benefit for Russia of the religious/ideological disciplining and subordination of the Ukrainian faithful to all forms of dictates of the Russian Church.

The Scandal of (Divine?) Revenge

 

 

By Metropolitan Joseph of Buenos Aires

To my surprise I read a transcript of an interview with the Patriarch of Moscow on the Russian channel Россия-1 on the occasion of the recent Christmas celebration according to the Old Calendar. In this interview, His Holiness assures that "the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque last July is a punishment from God to Patriarch Bartholomew for granting the autocephalous tomos to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."*

I re-read this sentence, which summarizes the whole interview, and the surprise turned into frustration and discomfort.

The Feast of Saint Kyriaki and the Role of Women in the Church

By Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople

(From his homily delivered in the Church of Saint Kyriaki in Kontoskaliou of Constantinople on July 7, 2020)

The feasts of female Saints and Martyrs, such as the commemoration of the Holy Great Martyr Kyriaki, is an opportunity for us to remember the martyrdoms, sacrifices and offerings of women in the Church, and the particular reverence which they give to Orthodoxy.

Unfortunately and misguidedly, the Orthodox Church is described from the outside as male-centered. However, the central position of the Theotokos in her life, the abundance of Holy Women, the contribution of women to the parishes, their multifaceted ministry work, and their essential role in the family, the "small Church", according to our predecessor on the Throne of the Church of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, are admired, canceling these views. Quite aptly, the Metropolitan of Pergamon emphasizes the fact that in Orthodox Tradition, the woman is the pre-eminent expression of the person-centered ethos.

Women, more than anyone else, and perhaps first of all as a Mother, teach us to live as persons and not as individuals, that is, as beings of a relationship, and not as autonomous and independent beings.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On October 31, 1997 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was the first religious leader to visit the tomb of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia for a Wreath-Laying Ceremony in his honor at the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change. Present and introducing him was Coretta Scott King.

When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Met Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

It was the year 1989 (from 22 October till 3 November), when a three-member Patriarchal Exarchy, under the late Metropolitan Maximos of Stavroupoleos, which included Metropolitan Bartholomew of Philadelphia (later Ecumenical Patriarch) and Metropolitan Athanasios of Elenoupolis (later Metropolitan of Chalcedon) visited Mount Athos, with the purpose of establishing the Brotherhood of the Monastery of Vatopaidi.

The Correspondence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Saint Amphilochios Makris

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is not only responsible for the canonization of numerous saints of the Church, but he had a personal relationship with some of them as well. One way he had a personal relationship with these saints was through correspondence.

Metropolitan Ignatios of Berat published a book about the recently canonized Saint Amphilochios Makris in 1993 titled Ο Γέροντας της Πάτμου: Αμφιλόχιος Μακρής (1889-1970), Βίος – Υποθήκαι – Μαρτυρίαι (The Elder of Patmos: Amphlochios Makris (1889-1970), Life - Maxims - Testimonies). Inside this biography is a series of six Letters from 1957 to 1962 by Saint Amphilochios addressed to the then young student Demetrios Archontonis (future Patriarch Bartholomew), who was between 17 and 22 years old.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Birthday of Constantinople

On May 12, 2010, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, after the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Saint George at the Phanar, referred to the anniversary of the Birthday, or Dedication, of Constantinople, in which he stated the following:

The Turks Who Tried to Destroy the Tomb of Saint Boukolos in the 17th century

Saint Boukolos was the first Bishop of Smyrna, who reposed in Smyrna in the early second century. Before his repose, he chose Polycarp to succeed him, and Polycarp had him buried at the cemetery of the Royal Ephesian Gate of Smyrna. He was buried where a myrtle tree began to miraculously grow when Saint Thraseas was buried there, and it was at the point where the feet of Saint Boukolos's feet were located, and it covered over his grave to his head. This tree had miraculous properties, and when Christians went to his grave to venerate him, they would consume the leaves and fruits of the tree, and the sick would be healed and barren women would be able to bear children. In the fifth century a chapel was built next to the grave.

The Ascetic Corrective (Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople)

The Ascetic Corrective

By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Lecture at the Ustein Monastery, Norway in 2003

This session marks the opening of the Sailing Seminar on the North Sea. It takes place within the walls of a strategically-placed monastery at the entrance of the magnificent and unique Ryfylke fjords, where the marine traffic along this coast was once controlled. Inhabited as an island from as early as the Bronze Age, it has been a special haven for monks of the Augustinian Order since the Middle Ages. This monastic setting surely provides for us an ideal opportunity to assess the importance and impact of the phenomenon and experience of monasticism in general for the ecological balance of our world.

At the conclusion of the service for the tonsure of an Orthodox monk or nun, the newly-received member of the monastic brotherhood or convent stands before the entire community bearing three simple tokens: a cross, a candle and a prayer-rope. The first two symbols – the cross and the candle – standing as we are today in this historic and royal monastery of Utstein, are a powerful reminder of the ecological corrective offered by the monastic way of life. The monk and the nun, representative of all the Christian faithful, and indeed of the whole world, are an image of the spirit of asceticism or self-restraint and of a light that illumines and protects the world in the face of every form of spiritual darkness.

Fidel Castro and Mount Athos

In January 2004 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Cuba to Inaugurate the first Orthodox Church of Cuba, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, at the invitation of Fidel Castro.

During a three hour dinner together, most of the discussion revolved around issues of education and the need to provide young people with intellectual skills, especially in these critical times when a crisis of values exists internationally.

Rare Video Showing an Embrace Between Saint Paisios and Patriarch Bartholomew

Exactly one year after becoming Ecumenical Patriarch on 2 November 1991, Bartholomew I visited Mount Athos. On 7 November 1992 he was received by the Holy Monastery of Koutloumouseiou.

The video below captures the moment when during the Doxological reception at Koutloumouseiou, Saint Paisios the Athonite came forward to receive the blessing of His All-Holiness. And although Saint Paisios was a simple monk without clerical rank, the Patriarch, out of his reverence for the Elder, gave him the kiss of peace.

The First Church Dedicated to Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva in Greece

The first church in Greece dedicated to Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva was inaugurated at Langada, Greece on the 4th of October 2015 by His All Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, surrounded by many other Metropolitans, Clergy and faithful.

Interview with Patriarch Bartholomew on Religious Fanaticism, the Patriarchal Role, the Athonite Avaton, and the Future of Orthodoxy in Turkey, among other things

An Interview with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
by the Journalistic Team of the School of Bakogiannis 

on November 30, 2014

As part of a humanitarian education and the conveying of principles, values and ideals to young people in difficult times, the journalistic team of the School of Bakogiannis, with the coordination of Mr. Dastafridis Anastasios and members of the student body Theodora Antoniou, Constantine Efthymiadis, Vasilios Papoutsoglou, Helen Tsoutsis, Helen Chalitsiou and Georgia Harmani, it continues its work. In an effort to find answers to religious pursuits it came in contact with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who honoring their work gave the following interview.

The Mutually Exclusive Goals of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew

By John Sanidopoulos

This past weekend, for the feast of the Apostle Andrew, founder of the Church of Constantinople, Pope Francis of Rome made a historic visit to the Phanar as a sign of mutual love and cooperation in ecumenical dialogue. It was widely covered by the media, while Pope and Patriarch made mutual statements, mutual prayers and mutually signed documents. They even shared a mutual embrace. It is easy for the pious and simple Orthodox faithful to be scandalized by such actions, but we must remember that the Pope and the Patriarch still have mutually exclusive goals that prevent their relationship from ever consummating. That is, their terms of union are mutually exclusive.

Patriarchal Pilgrimage to the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople

Nikos Magginas

October 8, 2014

Amen.gr

The Byzantine Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which was constructed by Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora between 527 and 536, was visited yesterday, on the feast day of these two Saints, by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Synaxis of All our Holy Fathers, Archbishops and Patriarchs of Constantinople

On the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, the Ecumenical Patriarchate every year celebrates the feast of the Synaxis of All our Holy Fathers, Archbishops and Patriarchs of Constantinople as a memorial.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Future of Hagia Sophia and Ukraine

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, during his latest visit to Germany a few days ago, was interviewed by Deutsche Welle. Among other things, the Patriarch spoke about Hagia Sophia possibly becoming a mosque and the situation in Ukraine. Below are excerpts:

Dirt From the Grave of Saint Porphyrios Brought to Ecumenical Patriarch

On behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and to celebrate the official Canonization of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva on 27 November 2013, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received on 17 December 2013 Hieromonk Fr. George Alevras of Kavsokalyva from the homonymous Sacred Skete of Mount Athos.

During the scheduled meeting, dirt was offered from the Sacred Memorial of Saint Porphyrios, as well as from the place where the Holy Elder Porphyrios received the magnificent Grace of the Holy Spirit.

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, receiving the unexpected gift, said the following:

"I had the blessing many years ago to meet the Holy Elder Porphyrios, at the Sacred Hermitage of the Transfiguration of the Savior Christ in Milesi of Attica, of which he was Founder. With particular emotion I received his blessing, realizing even then his empirical state in the Holy Spirit. His life was a life of known Holiness. I am aware of the exhiliration and the sense of cosolation with which the people received the Canonization in these difficult times they are going through. Finally we were informed of the concise homily of the Holy Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia at the festal Divine Liturgy that took place at the Sacred Hermitage of the Transfiguration of the Savior Christ in Milesi of Attica, according to which he characterized the Blessed Holy Elder Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva as a true leader of the people."

Then Fr. George Alevras said the following:

"Your All Holiness, we convey to you the respects of the brotherhood of our Holy Elder Porphyrios, from the Sacred Skete of Kavsokalyva of the Holy Mountain. Allow me, Your All Holiness, to remind you of the words you publicly issued in the year 2009, that the underlying global economic crisis is primarily a spiritual crisis. It is therefore, Your All Holiness, indeed a balm of consolation the formal Canonization of the Holy Elder Porphyrios for our people, showing his leadership in the Holy Spirit and not just the economic. You therefore showed, Your All Holiness, the real way out of the crisis."

Fr. George Alevras then gave Patriarch Bartholomew the collectible volume titled Ioannis Kapodistrias: the Saint of Politics, which contains previously unpublished letters of the first Post-Byzantine leader of the Nation. Admiring the work, Mr. Bartholomew said:

"I was recently informed of the proposition by Metropolitan Anthimos of Thessaloniki at the Standing Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece, regarding the investigation for the concurrent conditions to Canonize Ioannis Kapodistrias. I also know that the hieromonk responsible, through the Governor, for the Sacred Synopsis of the time, was from Imbros and named Bartholomew Koutloumousianos. The present volume reminds me of the identity of my own name and place of origin."

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Patriarch Bartholomew: "We Are Not Betraying Orthodoxy" - "We Are Not Ecumenists"

The Patriarch gives a response to those who criticize the Patriarchate for participating in ecumenical dialogue.

Loudaros Andreas

September 20, 2013

Dogma.gr

A powerful message was sent to multiple recipients within all the Churches today by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew regarding the issue of ecumenical dialogue.

Addressing Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria, who is making a peaceful visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Bartholomew said among other things that he is neither betraying Orthodoxy nor is he supportive of ecumenistic concepts, as they say.

"Through this strategy we are not betraying Orthodoxy, as criticized, nor do we support ecumenistic concepts, but we proclaim to the heterodox and to all the truth of Orthodoxy," he said characteristically.

The Ecumenical Patriarch made ​​extensive references to the reactions that exist regarding theological dialogue both in Bulgaria and other countries, noting that "these actions are aimed at mutual understanding and for the acceptance in time by the heterodox of the one Orthodox faith."

"We do not aim, as it is written in Bulgaria and elsewhere, towards the creation of a commonly acceptable 'conglomeration' of beliefs. That is, we are not pursuing through the so-called ecumenical movement the acceptance of a 'Christian syncretistic confession', but a deepening in the Orthodox Christian faith and in societal cooperation with those who invoke the name of Christ," said Bartholomew.

He added that: "Naturally, we do not fear, as Orthodox, who have the fullness of truth, that we will be affected by the views of our heterodox brethren on doctrinal issues."

The Problem of the Great Synod

The Ecumenical Patriarch did not omit to refer to the serious problem in the relationships between Orthodox Churches, problems which have often hindered the process of convening the Holy and Great Synod, which will be the gathering of all Primates to discuss issues of common interest.

"Lately, however, the conditions have improved and the desire for more unity and cooperation has matured. This has helped a lot, despite humanly unpredictable and unknown factors, in preparing for the Holy and Great Synod of our Orthodox Church; the preparation of which, even when there have been cases of disagreement, has shown and proved the desire to surpass difficulties and clinging to indestructible and sincere spiritual ties, which link us inextricably as individual Orthodox Churches towards one another and towards the first among these - the Ecumenical Patriarchate," said the Patriarch.

Mr. Bartholomew stressed that local Orthodox Churches are united around the common Chalice, and various disagreements do not break their unity.

"Therefore, it is important that the effort to endeavor to bridge the differences between Orthodox Churches is not an effort associated with already achieved steadfast unity, but a deeper, further and consolidated effort, to achieve a uniformity at the possibility in overcoming various emerging issues," he said further.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The entire message can be read at this link:

Χαιρετισμός τῆς Α. Θ. Παναγιότητος τοῦ Οἰκουμενικοῦ Πατριάρχου κ. κ. Βαρθολομαίου κατά τήν Ὑποδοχήν ἐν τῇ Αἰθούσῃ τοῦ Θρόνου τοῦ Μακ. Πατριάρχου Βουλγαρίας κ. κ. Νεοφύτου (Φανάριον, 20 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013)