Moscow Patriarchate Priest Hopes Jerusalem Patriarchate To Reject Constantinople's Moves

The secretary of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Hegumen Nikon, expressed hope that the Jerusalem Patriarchate would not support Constantinople's decision to grant autocephaly to schismatics in Ukraine and it would be possible for the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to maintain Eucharistic communion with Jerusalem.

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2018) The secretary of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Hegumen Nikon, expressed hope that the Jerusalem Patriarchate would not support Constantinople's decision to grant autocephaly to schismatics in Ukraine and it would be possible for the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to maintain Eucharistic communion with Jerusalem.

"I hope that this [cancellation of Eucharistic communion with the Jerusalem Patriarchate] will not happen, because Patriarch Theophilos [III of Jerusalem] treats the Russians well. As far as we communicated with him, his position is quite constructive. Maybe he is not inclined to some loud-voiced declarations, but at least we hope his deeds will show that he is still on our side and will not allow schismatics to be allowed to the service," the hegumen told Sputnik.

The mission has not yet received the reaction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which controls the key shrines of the Holy Land, including the chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and conducts joint services there with representatives of the ROC, he noted.

If Jerusalem Patriarchate supports the ROC's position, then everything will remain as it is now, he said.

"That is, we will not just stand at the services as observers, but also fully participate in them, also serve together and take communion together," the hegumen added.

If the Jerusalem Patriarchate sides with Constantinople and allows the schismatics to serve in its shrines, then the ROC will have to refuse to conduct joint services with it, he noted.

"If this happens, we will be able to attend these services, of course, but we cannot commune with them, we will not be able to serve with them," Hegumen Nikon added.

In connection with the decision of Constantinople to begin granting autocephaly to the non-canonical church in Ukraine, which the ROC called a schism, the Holy Synod of the ROC on Monday announced the cancellation of Eucharistic communion with the Constantinople Patriarchate. The ROC's Holy Synod called Constantinople's decision to withdraw the act of 1686, which transferred the Kiev archdiocese to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, canonically insignificant and noted that the decision was politically motivated. Head of the ROC's department for external church relations (DECR) Metropolitan Hilarion noted that the ROC hoped that the decision to grant autocephaly the Ukrainian church would be reversed, and until that time, Constantinople would be in a schism.