Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has sent a letter to the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia protesting that Church’s celebration of the seventy year Tomos of autocephaly it received from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1951. In 1998, the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued its own Tomos of autocephaly to the Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia. At the time, this Church sought to ease tensions with Constantinople and apparently agreed to receive a Tomos from Constantinople. A Tomos is bestowed by the Mother Church upon a daughter Church when the latter receives the status of autocephaly.
The dispute in this particular case emanates from Constantinople’s claims that only it can bestow autocephaly to a Church. The issue of autocephaly is actually quite complex and there is no agreement as to who can and cannot bestow autocephaly on a particular Church. In 1970, the Russian Church bestowed autocephaly to one of its Churches in America that is now called “Orthodox Church in America” (OCA). Some Churches recognize the autocephaly of the OCA while others do not.
Even those who do not recognize the autocephaly of the OCA recognize it as being canonical and so is a part of the Orthodox Church. Constantinople does not recognize the OCA’s autocephaly but recognizes it as an autonomous part of the Russian Church. The question of how autocephaly is bestowed and who can bestow autocephaly was complicated enough before the events in Ukraine were undertaken in 2018.
The issue of autocephaly is one in which the Churches can disagree in good faith until an agreement is reached some time in the future. Despite disagreements on the matter of the OCA, Constantinople and Moscow maintained communion and friendly relations. Constantinople’s attempt to bestow autocephaly on schismatics in Ukraine has created much damage within Orthodoxy. It has also complicated the issue of autocephaly which will make it impossible in the near future for all the Churches to agree on how autocephaly should be bestowed.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is opening up old wounds on top of new wounds. The Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia has been defacto autocephalous since 1951. Constantinople refrained from recognizing that autocephaly (as was its right) until 1998. Constantinople is within its rights to withhold recognition from a particular Church but does not have the right to bully that Church as it is now doing to the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
The best way to resolve the issue of autocephaly is to return to the conciliar tradition of the early Church. The Churches of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Cyprus were all bestowed autocephaly by one of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Some Churches such as that of Georgia did not receive autocephaly in this manner but was granted it by the Patriarchate of Antioch.
In order to avoid these never ending disputes, it would be best to convene an Ecumenical Council to resolve the problem of autocephaly. A Council needs to be convened to rule on the Ukrainian crisis anyway! The best solution would be to agree that autocephaly should only be granted by the unanimous agreement of all existing autocephalous Churches.
Patriarch Bartholomew continues to be a destabilizing source in Orthodoxy. His criticism of the Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia for commemorating an anniversary on their own territory is petty. The Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia is an autocephalous Church which means it does not answer either to Constantinople or Moscow.
Patriarch Bartholomew’s clumsy attempt to bestow autocephaly on schismatics on the territory of another canonical Church remains the real problem in Orthodoxy. The behavior of the Ecumenical Patriarch continues to damage both Orthodox unity and the prestige of the Church of Constantinople.