Constantinople Synod Ruling On Ukraine Schismatics Unacceptable - Russian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2018) The decision of Constantinople Patriarchate to lift anathema from two schismatic Orthodox leaders and their followers in Ukraine is unacceptable, a senior Moscow Patriarchate official told Sputnik on Thursday.

�The Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate has lifted the anathema from the head of the so-called Kiev Patriarchate, Filaret Denisenko, and Archbishop Makariy Maletich, who leads the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in a move to to grant autocephaly to non-canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

"The decision of the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate is a gross violation of the fundamental canonical norms of the church system, and, as such, cannot be recognized as legitimate,"� Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, the vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, said.