Network: Greek Primate accused Patriarch Bartholomew of usurping power

The Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens (1998-2008) accused the Patriarch of Bartholomew of Constantinople of manipulations and attempts to seize power in the Orthodox world, blogger Alexander Voznesensky reminds on Facebook.

He published a fragment of a photocopy of the letter of the Primate of the Greek Church regarding the aggressive actions of the Phanar’s head in 2004.

“The reference to the irrelevant Canons of the Holy Apostles and the Council decrees and the facts relying on them that are not subject to their action creates the conviction that the Ecumenical Patriarchate with this act aims to transform the status of the primacy of honor into the primacy of power with the consequences unpredictable for the entire Orthodox world,” the document reads.

Voznesensky pointed out that even then the Primate of the Church of Greece warned of the unpredictable consequences of the destructive processes started by Patriarch Bartholomew who tried to manipulate the teachings of the Church.

“Not the Russian Orthodox Church, as Bartholomew (Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew – Ed.) likes to declare, but the head of the Church of Greece then raised the question that Patriarch Bartholomew was trying to change the Orthodox teaching; and instead of primacy of honor, he is trying to appropriate the primacy of power over the Orthodox Church!" said the blogger.

Now, even the head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko has started talking about the papal ambitions of the Phanar’s head. Filaret explained that the Local Churches, except for Greece and Alexandria, “do not recognize this Tomos not because it was provided to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU – Ed.), but because it is based on the papal ambitions of the Ecumenical Patriarch.”