Pan-Orthodox Meeting May Convene In Jordan In February - Moscow Patriarchate

Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III has offered to convene a pan-Orthodox meeting in Jordan in February to discuss the current situation in the Orthodox world, the deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2019) Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III has offered to convene a pan-Orthodox meeting in Jordan in February to discuss the current situation in the Orthodox world, the deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate told Sputnik.

Theophilos III proposed gathering the heads of Orthodox churches last month in the wake of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople's decision to recognize the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The Moscow Patriarchate supported the idea, saying that "there is no alternative to the start of a direct dialogue." Earlier, information about a pan-Orthodox meeting on Ukraine planned for February surfaced on social media.

"Indeed, this date, more precisely, this month, has been mentioned in the proposals of the patriarch of Jerusalem. He does offer to consider the possibility of holding such a meeting in February," Archpriest Nikolay Balashov said.

When asked whether he could confirm that this pan-Orthodox event would actually take place, the archpriest replied: "We will see what the reaction will be."

The UOC was formed in late 2018 on then-President Petro Poroshenko's initiative. The new structure brought together the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, two previously non-canonical structures.

In early January, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople handed over the tomos of autocephaly, a document that grants Orthodox churches autonomy, to the newly established UOC. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize the establishment of the new church structure in Ukraine and Constantinople's decision to grant it autocephaly.