Phanar cleric who offended head of Albanian Church refuses to apologize
Epifaniy Dumenko and Roman (Anastasiadis). Photo: Facebook of Archimandrite Roman (Anastasiadis)
Archimandrite Roman (Anastasiadis) of the semi-autonomous Church of Crete under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate published an article from which it became clear that he has no intention of apologizing to the head of the Albanian Church, Archbishop Anastasios.
In response to the demand of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Church to take measures against him for insulting the Primate, Archimandrite Roman wrote that the synodals should first ask Archbishop Anastasios of Albania whether he 'feels pride in being mentioned in the texts of the Russian Church directed against our Ecumenical Patriarchate, as their main source and reference.'
'He is repeatedly referred to as the supposed "authority" of the Moscow heretics and their silver-tongued propagandists worldwide, even by the sellout Russian lackeys in Greece, to slander and defame our Ecumenical Patriarch and the Great Church of Christ!' the archimandrite writes.
'This is my response to everything that has happened in these days, to various "statements", of which God is the judge: he, Anastasios, should defend himself, not accuse! He, Anastasios, should be the accused, not the accuser,' the cleric of the semi-autonomous Church affiliated with the Phanar asserts.
He writes that 'with his anti-church and anti-canonical position and behaviour, Anastasios ended up on the wrong side of history, along with the enemies of the Church'.
In the opinion of the archimandrite, 'he, Anastasios, should repent, apologize, and correct his harmful mistakes, for which, of course, not we but God will judge him.'
'My conscience, my witness – the Almighty God and our Most Holy Mother, the Theotokos, whose Dormition we celebrate - is clear! Before God and people, and first and foremost before His Holiness, the great master and Ecumenical Patriarch of ours, the sole Primate of our Church,' concluded the archimandrite of the Phanar.
As earlier reported, a pro-Phanar website published an offensive article about the head of the Albanian Church.
Subsequently, the Synod of the Albanian Church called on the Phanar to provide an assessment of the insults made by its cleric, and later the hierarch of Crete condemned his cleric who had offended Archbishop Anastasios of Albania.
Read also
Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church сanonizes Blessed John Pokhodenchyk
In July of this year, the Commission on the Canonization of Saints reviewed materials regarding the glorification of the ascetic from the Kirovohrad region.
November 2 – International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
Over six months ago, UOJ Orthodox journalists were arrested and placed in detention, facing life sentences for covering the religious situation in Ukraine.
Met. Longin’s lawyer: Judges wanted to ban video recording of the trial
After the judge decided to conduct the session 'in camera', Metropolitan Longin suffered a heart attack.
Odesa UOC Eparchy: "We can no longer be silent; we will defend the Church"
The press service of the Odesa Eparchy commented on the statement regarding the ROC's actions toward dioceses in occupied territories.
OCU cathedral in Lutsk decorated with frescoes of businessmen
Due to criticism of this initiative, the images had to be redone.
Yelensky on UOC bishops’ statement: We expect an exit from the ROC, not talks
The DESS head suggested that the Primate did not support this statement, as he hadn't put his signature on it.