UOC cleric: Constantinople promotes liberal ecclesiology

Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich. Photo: UOJ

On November 5, 2020, the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich stated in an interview with “1Kozaktv” that the Patriarchate of Constantinople promotes liberal ecclesiology, as opposed to the traditional one.

The priest noted that he had the feeling that the Phanariots “live in the past, Byzantine history”, but “the Church cannot be turned into a museum of Byzantine history,” Father Nikolai stressed.

According to the priest, the statements of Patriarch Bartholomew not only compromise him but are also dangerous for the Church: “Such ecclesiology, such an understanding of the Church, when schismatics can be proclaimed as a Church, and the canonical Church can be declared schismatics, is dangerous for the entire world Orthodoxy. This is a perverted and distorted ecclesiology."

Father Nikolai stressed that today we are witnessing "not a conflict between the Greek and Slavic worlds, but between traditional ecclesiology and liberal ecclesiology promoted by the Patriarchate of Constantinople".

He noted that the statements of the head of the Phanar “testify to the great pride of the Patriarch of Constantinople. And the Lord humbles for pride”.

“I have spoken with the priests (of the Church of Greece – Ed.) recently. They say: “You know, this does not work in Ukraine anymore. We have already heard all kinds of attacks on the Church. We are already worried about Patriarch Bartholomew himself that he says such things. It is no longer harmful to us, it is already harming the Church,” the priest said.

According to him, “this is all non-church. And it is regrettable that such things come from the patriarch. We cannot close our eyes to millions of believers, thousands of parishes. We are a self-sufficient Church and such words of the patriarch, who has 11 parishes in Turkey, which is fewer than in our deanery, are unworthy of the patriarch."

“The Local Churches understand this situation – a non-Orthodox distortion of ecclesiology – and are thinking about how to correct it at the Pan-Orthodox level,” Archpriest Nikolai noted.

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