UOC hierarch of Constantinople See: The blooming city of Myra is long gone
Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed) said that under Turkish law, the Patriarch of Constantinople is only the leader of the small Greek community of Istanbul.
The vicar of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed) of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, spoke about his vision of the current situation of the Constantinople See of the Orthodox Church. According to the hierarch, "the blooming city of Myra has long gone," reports the Lavra website.
"We see what position the See of Constantinople is now in and how the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarch are violated. And the blooming city of Mira has long gone – now this is the provincial town of Demre in the south of Turkey, "said Vladyka Pavel.
In his opinion, if earlier the head of the see made every effort to ensure that the entire Orthodox world recognized his primacy, now he is struggling to be recognized by the Turkish authorities.
The vicar of the Lavra notes that at present the Patriarch of Constantinople is almost openly called the Patriarch of Istanbul. According to the metropolitan, under the Turkish legislation, he is only the leader of the small Greek community of Istanbul, numbering just over 3,000 people. And outside Turkey he does not have any rights at all.
The hierarch reminded that the Church of Constantinople is banned any activity other than liturgical: missionary, preaching and charity. And the only seminary was closed.
"What indeed can be said if even the Patriarch can save his residence only at the expense of Western patrons. Moreover, it is constantly attacked by Turkish extremists, with the full connivance of the government and the police," added Metropolitan Pavel.
In his opinion, the cause of the plight of the Constantinople Patriarchate lies in history: "In one of the talks, Patriarch Bartholomew complained that he feels like a second-class citizen. What can I say about ordinary priests and laymen! And the causes of such a plight lie a thousand years from us, in Myra abandoned by the faint-hearted Lycians, who threw the holy relics of Saint Nicholas to the mercy of the Saracens."
The mass media reported that at the end of May, the Patriarchate of Constantinople may grant the Tomos on the creation of the exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine. In other words, Phanar intends to subordinate the UOC KP and the UAOC by making them a metropolitanate within the Constantinople Patriarchate.
