Alexandrian Patriarch Recognized New Church In Ukraine Under Pressure - Metropolitan

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2019) The Patriarch Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II made his decision to recognize newly-created non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) under the pressure from Greece and Constantinople Patriarchate, former First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) told Sputnik.

On Friday, Patriarch Theodoros II announced his decision to put self-styled primate Epiphanius of the UOC into its list of primates, which technically means that the patriarchate recognized the independence of Ukraine's Orthodox Church.

"It is a sad thing that the Alexandrian Patriarch commemorated Epiphaniy at the Liturgy, but undoubted bowed to pressure from the Greek State, Constantinople or some rather more local power centers," metropolitan Jonah said.

On January 6, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople handed over the tomos of autocephaly to the newly established Ukrainian church. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize either occurrence. The Moscow Patriarchate has described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.

Metropolitan Jonah took a note of very precarious financial state of Alexandrian Patriarchate. He expressed confidence that money and threats to withhold financial support affected Theodoros' decision.

"They are undoubtedly caught in the middle, and believed they had no choice," he said.

Paffhausen, who currently belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), pointed out that this new development will not allow supporters of the non-canonical church to lessen Moscow Patriarchate's influence in the Orthodox world.

"On one hand, it does mean that the Russian position is weakened, and there is a growing consolidation of the Greeks in support of Constantinople, and whoever is forcing Constantinople to do this," he said. "But as the largest of the Orthodox Churches, many times the size of Constantinople, Russia would be hard to isolate."

Metropolitan urged to remember that this is a theological and canonical issue, but not an ethnic one.

"It is about two main questions: does Constantinople have the right and the authority to restore schismatics and economize even episcopal ordinations, simply by fiat, and, what are the limits to the authority of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and how is it accountable?" he said.

Paffhausen reminded that Orthodox canons consider Constantinople Patriarch as only first among other equal Patriarchs.

"In reality they only have as much authority as the Church gives them," he said. "If this is about Hellenism, it is a sad ethnophyletist idol to exchange for the Lord Jesus Christ."

Due to several schisms within Christianity, the title of the Patriarch of Alexandria is currently held by four persons belonging to different denominations. Theodoros is the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, while others are the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and all the East and the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria.