Serbian hierarch: Those who fearlessly uphold the truth gathered in Amman

Bishop Irinej (Bulovic) of Bačka. Photo: Orthodox life

Bishop Irinej (Bulovic) of Bačka, the hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, said this in an interview with the edition “Russian Orthodoxy in Great Britain and Western Europe” that despite the unwillingness of Patriarch Bartholomew to convene a pan-Orthodox Council, hierarchs who are ready to fearlessly uphold the truth gathered at the meeting of Primates in Amman. 

“In Amman, then, we see the convening of those primates and representatives of the Local Churches willing righteously and fearlessly to stand for the truth and follow the Orthodox path of addressing challenges in a conciliar way when they arise,” said the Serbian hierarch.

He emphasized that in the current situation around the recognition of Ukrainian schismatics, the Sacraments and the very nature of the Church are being denied.

“When individuals with no sacramental ordination in the Church are falsely claimed to be priests and hierarchs and set over the holy Mysteries, this is a fundamental denial of the nature of those sacraments, especially that of ordination. When those outside the Church are falsely claimed to be part of it, simply by fiat or pronouncement and not by repentance and sacramental baptism and chrismation, this is a fundamental denial of the nature of the Church itself, and of those sacramental realities. So, these are the most grave of matters. <...> They are matters of truth, and more importantly, of falsehood being promulgated under the guise of truth. It is for this reason that the hierarchs of the Churches, and above all their primates, must work together in earnest to ensure that such falsehood does not go uncorrected,” emphasized the bishop.

According to him, there is some symbolism in the fact that the Council of Primates falls just before the beginning of Great Lent.

“We all sin, we all wander at times, wittingly or unwittingly, into error and must be called back through repentance to what is right and true. This is no less the case for clerics or hierarchs or those in the administration of Patriarchates. Error is error, truth is truth, and when the one appears, it must be cast out in favour of the other. This is the nature of our life in Christ,” resumed Bishop Irinej (Bulovic) of Bačka.

The UOJ presents the online broadcast of the events in Amman.

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