Head of Phanar: We'll always be the first Church while Russians – the fifth

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Photo: fosfanariou.gr

Constantinople will always be the first Church, while the Russian one – only the fifth. This was stated by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who commented on the modern schism in Orthodoxy, Suspilne reports.

According to the head of Phanar, there is no split yet, and if there is, only “our Russian brothers” are to blame for it, who perceived the autocephaly of the OCU as the revenge for their refusal to participate in the Cretan Council of 2016.

“The dream of our Russian brothers is to be the rulers of Orthodoxy,” he said. “But this will never happen, because the canons of the Orthodox Church and the actions of the Church over the centuries have given primacy to Constantinople. Constantinople will always be the first Church in the system of Orthodox Churches, while the Russian Sister Church will be the fifth."

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew said that “by God the individual Orthodox Churches, which have not yet been identified and harmonized after the act of the Mother Church on the Ukrainian Autocephaly, would do so, for the glory of God.”

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