Head of the Cypriot Church: ROC was wrong not to attend Council of Crete

Archbishop George of Cyprus said that the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church made a mistake by refusing to participate in the 2016 Council of Crete, reports orthodoxianewsagency.gr.

Archbishop George believes that the provision that the Patriarch of Constantinople gives autocephaly "is also enshrined in the acts of the last millennium".

"He gave autocephaly everywhere, including to the Churches of Russia, Greece, Serbia, Romania, etc. What new thing has he done now?" the head of the Church of Cyprus said when asked about the breakdown of unity between the Phanar and the ROC over the OCU's Tomos.

He questioned: "When at pan-Orthodox conferences it was recommended to change the way of granting autocephaly, why didn't the Russians come to vote to discuss this issue and accept the new way of granting autocephaly?"

"In this, in my opinion, they are wrong," Archbishop George of Cyprus said.

As earlier reported, Metropolitan Hilarion explained why the ROC did not participate in the Council of Crete.