Patriarchate of Alexandria initiates a meeting of Primates of 5 Churches

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria. Photo: nv.ua

Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria sent a delegation and a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to convene a meeting of the Primates of the 5 Churches on the creation of the Patriarchal Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, reports orthodoxia.info.

It is assumed that the meeting should be attended by the Primates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem (Churches of the Pentarchy - the five most ancient Churches, which included Rome, which later fell away from Orthodoxy) and the Cypriot Churches. Patriarch Theodore II will send a separate delegation with explanations to the Churches of Antioch and Jerusalem, which do not recognize the OCU.

It is worth recalling that in April 2019, a meeting of four Primates was already held – with the exception of Constantinople – at which, in particular, the problems that arose after the granting of the Tomos to the OCU were discussed. After Patriarch Theodore II recognized the OCU in November 2019, the Church of Alexandria refused to participate in the Amman Council of Primates held at the initiative of Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem in February 2020.

The Russian Church supported the initiative of Patriarch Theophilos III. According to the head of the DECR MP, Metropolitan Hilarion, through such meetings as the Council of Primates in Amman, the Orthodox Church is looking for ways to restore the mechanisms of catholicity. Patriarch Theophilos III expressed the hope that the work of the “Amman format” would continue after the lifting of the quarantine restrictions, in which he was also supported by representatives of the Russian Church.

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