ROC threatening to invade canonical territories of the Churches that recognize the OCU
Romfea published a comment by the representative of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Metropolitan Seraphim of Zimbabwe, in which he expresses his fears in the event of recognition of the OCU by the local Churches of the world. Formally calling to the Pan-Orthodox dialogue on the Ukrainian question, he openly voiced that the ROC blackmails the local Churches with the occupation threat of their canonical territories and the establishment of a parallel hierarchy.
First, Seraphim rebukes Ecumenical Patriarch that thanks to him "some statements that the Russians will by any means seek to have bishops around the world, without taking anyone into account" will be confirmed.
“The lack of dialogue with the sister Orthodox Churches, where the question of canonical Church jurisdiction in Ukraine could be discussed, will result in the situation where the Russians send their clergy to all areas of the Church canonical jurisdiction of our Ecumenical Patriarchate, even within Turkey and in Constantinople.”
“This means that if any Local Orthodox Church speaks in favor of the position of our Ecumenical Patriarchate on the issue of autocephaly of Ukraine, the ROC will immediately send its clergy to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of this Local Church.” Metropolitan Luka of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol (UOC-MP) recently voiced such veiled threats: “What should those priests do who do not want to participate in the satanic ‘Church’ bacchanalia started by the forerunner of the Antichrist?... We must immediately withdraw from those Church communities and cease Eucharistic communion with those bishops who have agreed to go the way of betrayal of their faith. Formal observance of canon law in the conditions of the war against Orthodoxy is impossible. One must feel and understand the inner meaning of the Church canons, living in the spirit and ways of sacred Tradition.”
According to Cerkvarium, preliminary apprehensions that ROC set to create parasinagogues on the canonical territory of those local Churches that recognize the OCU, have turned up evidence. The Metropolitan, like his other colleagues, does not yet see any other way to preserve pan-Orthodox unity (which consists only in the inviolability of his own canonical territories), how to please Patriarch Kirill and suspend the recognition of the OCU. But, as you know, in relation to Russia, the policy of ‘appeasing the aggressor’ has always led only to a shameful defeat. It was the case in Georgia in 2008, so it was in Ukraine in 2014. The only way out of this difficult situation is to act in conscience and recognize the OCU, and then calmly wait for the canonical aggression of the Russians. It will give grounds to show a real, not imaginary Pan-Orthodox unity: to convene the Pan-Orthodox Council, which will condemn not only inadequate and non-canonical actions of the ROC, but at the same time will recognize as heresy some individual points of the political doctrine, distributed by the ROC (“Moscow is the Third Rome” and the like). In turn, this gives grounds to break off the Eucharistic communion with the ROC in a conciliar manner.
