The Ecumenical Throne
"The Ark of Liberties"
Russian aspirations cannot overcome the Sacred Grace of Place‌ -By the Hand of Hagiographos Elias Damianakis Archon Maestor
May 22, 2014 Recently press coverage about Orthodoxy has been increasing. This in no small part due to the upcoming historic visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land at the direct invitation of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Turkey) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting of Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI in 1964 (the historical scope of both occasion of the personal invitation and the pilgrimage goes beyond this essay but learn more at www.apostolicpilgrimage.org). This press coverage is obvious to anybody surfing the net, not so obvious to all, are the exploits. These exploits however are from an unlikely source: the Moscow Patriarchate department of external affairs. An exploitation of position, exploitation of the facts and a perverse exploitation of church history... what follows is an introductory expression of utter disapproval by the author and a prayer that far more worthy individuals will address the matter in a more academic fashion. The Ecumenical Throne is based in Constantinople (the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey) since the earliest days of Christianity. The See of Constantinople a direct result of Christ’s Apostolic directive “go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. The Apostle Stachys was one of the Seventy Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 38 AD the Apostle Andrew appointed him first bishop of the city of Byzantium which would later become Constantinople the new capital of the Roman Empire. This New-Rome in 330 A.D. founded by Constantine and become the epicenter of history, Christianity in general and Hellenic Orthodoxy in particular. The ancient See received the title Ecumenical in the 6th century. The current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270th successor of the See established by Andrew the First Called Apostle of Christ and brother to the Apostle Peter (An in depth history available at www.patriarchate.org). The establishment of the Patriarchate of Moscow is a bit more complicated, mired with intrigue. The conversion of the Slavs and Prince Vladimir of Kiev in the 10th century is a historic moment however which is seen as pivotal in its development. It took an additional 500 years: the collapse of the Roman Empire in 1453 and much political intrigue (kidnapping, invasion and threats) to create the Patriarchate of Moscow, which is clearly founded on a Muscovite nationalistic ideology of expansionism. Historically the Moscow Patriarchate was procured by the political exploits of local tribal rulers and duplicitous hierarchs eager to enlarge their holdings by un-canonical and unilateral acceptance of geographic land grabs of newly instituted Czars by the Moscow See, in sharp contrast to Canon 28 of the Ecumenical
Council, a continued growth of flagrant disregard to church law over the centuries led to another seemingly Muscovite church trait… unilateral autocephaly, a problem which is still plagues the Slavic churches and is the source of much consternation amongst the Orthodox in general as it is only acknowledged by a tiny portion of synods all with allegiance to Moscow. The 20th century in particular has left an indelible mark of martyrdom on the church and the Patriarch of Moscow is still recovering from the depths of the communist revolution in 1917 and the complete fragmentation of the Slavic body. The current Moscow Patriarch, Cyril represents 2nd Patriarch in line since a “free church” in 1991 (or 5th in line since patriarchal status ‘restored’ in 1917, or 16th if calculated from its proclamation as patriarchate in 1589). Patriarch Cyril represents an expansive geographical communion of Slavonic Orthodox hierarchs, boisterously represented by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk the head of the Russian Church’s department of external communications. This official voice of the Moscow Patriarchate seems assiduous on claiming, or at least romanticizes a position of authority based on a “Third Rome” fantasy. This selfdelusion, is a construct of the Russian sensitivity, a modern ‘manifest destiny’ which is intertwined with several popular political personalities (ie Vladimir Putin) using the Orthodox Church as their instrument of moral certitude both domestically and on the international front. The Moscow church leadership’s grandiose pseudoleadership aspirations emanate from a dominant paradigm, a “Byzantine-ecclesial-political science pretense”. This incarnation is a sub discipline of Moscow’s international relations via the department of external affairs. Essentially instituted by Patriarch Cyril while he held the position (many say influenced by the
then still influential KGB which undoubtedly influenced all of Russian interchange with the world), its very existence is effectively harming the overdue potential unity within the Eastern Rum Churches. To the Western ear this sounds like “political spin” and that’s the rub… add the press and you have the makings of speculation. The current train of thought running through modern day church leadership in Moscow fasten closely with the Russian Federation’s seemingly and eerily reminiscent of long lost Czarist theocracies; outlandish if not so scandalous! Conjecture that “wherever the Russian language
is spoken there too, is, the Russian church” seem so contrary to Orthodox ecclesial phronema; one sits in astonishment at the audacity. The situation is being exacerbated by Metropolitan Hilarion’s attempt to forge a post-revisionist synthesis as a ‘church historian’ who perpetually perverts historical facts as a sort of justification of behaviors; ‘the plausible inevitable’
consequences of self proclaimed influence. His most recent assertion that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has only 3000 members and [Ecumenical Pastriarch] Bartholomew “can act on behalf of other Orthodox churches only if they make a formal
request” then asserting the upcoming Apostolic Visit to Jerusalem is “less than it seems”. Anchoring and reaffirming age old prejudices in the framework of contemporary journalistic ignorance, as a supposition for intimidation is belittling to the position entrusted the Russian Church. Recently fostering such a perception within the church through protestations for convening a Great Council of the Orthodoxy. The resurgence of such an ecclesial attitude shadowed by recent inexcusable actions of the Russian government ‘liberating’ the Russian diaspora should send shivers up our spines but instead fuels the minions, of causes, unworthy of a Holy Orthodox See. Thus the analytical assumption of a consistently cautious patriarch and a consistently independent Moscow Patriarchate must be reappraised. Particularly in light of Patriarch Cyril’s nationalism so ferverantly propagated hand-in-hand with exclusion against other communities: ethnophyletism defined rather loosely by Moscow, I translate it as ethnictribalism or ethnic-racism. The irony of the current ecclesiastic posturing is that “Russian” identity has rendered far more devastation on Orthodoxy than the Ottomans ever did. If fact, Orthodox culture continued to prosper under the Ottomans which assimilated all that was Christian into Islam. Whereas under Russian influence the church has forgone canonical norms concerning geography, as undergone anomalies in art, music and even theology, not to mention the greatest martyrdom of Christianity in its 2000 year history, with far reaching implications throughout the centuries still to this day. With Moscow’s uncanonical expansionism into the far reaches of its empire establishing new metropolis along with the state’s political power, a first in Christian East. Moscow’s post-revisionists and pseudo-realist’s explain the revolutionary outbreaks in America as canonical. However can it be explained by Moscow’s unilateral indecisiveness has lead to the OCA “autocephalous” church only recognized by Moscow and other churches Moscow unilaterally granted some form of self rule. But laughingly not totally autocephalous because there is also ROCOR: literally the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia. This anomaly authored solely by Moscow is not unique in America, but worse yet, it has been copied by Antioch in North and South America, western Europe and the South Seas as well… To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson the Russian Church “needs to be extricated from its
delirium at once."
In an attempt to distract the world’s attention from the horrendous behavior, both political and especially ecclesiastically in Crimea, a fearful potential foreshadowing of the future of the Ukrainian situation, the Moscow Patriarchate has now falsely fixated on creating red-herrings and straw-men distractions directed at the Ecumenical Throne and Catholism.
“The
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which supports pro-European movements there rather than the pro-Russian ones the Russian Orthodox Chirch favors, "is becoming once again ... a huge
obstacle for any progress in our bilateral relations," he told Reuters in an interview in Moscow's Danilov Monastery.” An ambiguous comment at best, since it is essentially the Moscow Patriarchate inducing a self inflicted convulsion over the potential loss of economic and political influence over the Ukrainian Church which is an obstacle for progress. The Ukraine is the largest, wealthiest and most important portion of the Slavic world. Geopolitically it represents Russia’s only warm water access for trade and travel. Ecclesiastically it’s the birthplace of the Russian theological identity and remains its soul. According to Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis “Genuine Orthodoxy recognizes tolerance and
champions religious freedom and human rights”. At the helm of the Ecumenical Throne, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew fulfils the sacred task with honorable humility, chaste to the standards of his forbearers. In conclusion a recent comment seems to apply here for clarification in the Russian department of external affairs. As The Archbishop of Constantinople HAH is 'one among' equals, as The Patriarch of Constantinople is 'first among' equals, and as The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first 'without' equal. His All Holiness is imbued with reverence of place and time: kairos and chronos, the ecumenical form of person and place coalesce into the Ark of Liberty. There’s a lot a play in these regions, in these times and for Metropolitan Hilarion to play on the sensationalist tendencies of the press;“…all these unfortunate events ... take us back to the
situation when Catholics and Orthodox didn’t consider themselves as allies but as enemies…” is a comment unworthy a hierarch of the Orthodox Church, but belongs in a supermarket tabloid.
For more information visit: www.patriarchate.org www.apostolicpilgrimage.org www.archons.org
Haghiographos Elias Damianakis Archon Maestor of the Great Church of Christ 727-372-0711 www.orthodoxiconography.com archonelias@gmail.com