Moscow Patriarchate Ready To Hold Talks On Orthodox Schism In Jordan, No Date Set Yet

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2021) The talks between leaders of all Orthodox Christian churches on the schism and the situation concerning the autocephaly granted to the the uncanonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) in the so-called Amman format may be held in Jordan in the near future, though no date has been set yet, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, said in an interview to Sputnik on Tuesday.

In February 2021, Theophilos III, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed hope that a second meeting of the Amman format could be held this year with the aim to resolve the Ukrainian church issue and restore the Orthodox unity.

"In these circumstances [COVID-19 restrictions being gradually lifted], holding a new meeting of the church primates in the foreseeable future seems possible. However, talking about a specific date, in my opinion, is still premature," Metropolitan Hilarion stated, noting that the risk of coronavirus infections around the world is still high.

He also stressed that the last year's meeting was initiated by Patriarch Theophilos III.

"I believe that a new meeting, if it takes place, will be convened by him as the Primate of the Church of Jerusalem, the Mother of all Churches.

The Russian Church, for its part, supports such initiatives aimed at finding ways out of the Orthodox crisis and at restoring unity," he stated.

The first intra-Orthodox meeting took place in Jordan in February 2020, counting Russia's Patriarch Kirill, Serbia's Patriarch Irinej, Primate of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church Metropolitan Rastislav and Jerusalem's Patriarch Theophilos III among participants. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, as well as the primates of the Hellas, Cyprus and Albanian churches refused the offer to gather in order to resolve the schism over the situation with the recognition of the newly established Ukrainian church.

Constantinople handed over the tomos of autocephaly to the UOC-KP, led by the self-styled primate Epiphanius, in 2018. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize the independence. 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.