Head of Phanar: We made Russians Christians and brought them civilization
Patriarch Bartholomew is convinced that a "personal slanderous war" is being waged against him and against the "privileges" of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
On October 24, 2021, in an interview with the Cypriot newspaper Politis, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said that his predecessors made Russians Christians and introduced them to civilization.
The head of Phanar said that as an ecumenical patriarch for thirty years he has been responsible for the “rights” of the Patriarch of Constantinople “before his predecessors, before history, before the people of God, who expects from Constantinople only the truth, which is far from short-term interests.”
According to Patriarch Bartholomew, it was the very fact that he “defended the Truth” in his decision to recognize the OCU and provoked the “fierce” response of the Russian Church.
As a result, those who disagreed with the legalization of the OCU (he is talking about representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church – Ed.) launched a "personal slanderous war against my modest face and especially a slanderous campaign against the historical responsibility of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which brought them Christianity and made them civilized people."
It is this (disagreement with the recognition of the OCU – Ed.) that "causes a feeling of fear and uncertainty in people when other Churches do not want to coordinate their actions with the actions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate," the head of Phanar said.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Patriarch Bartholomew, there are those who envy his position as the First in Orthodoxy and hence create a "new ecclesiology".
