The term “byzantine” is frequently used to denote intrigue and treachery. In Constantinople, factions schemed against one another and there were numerous Emperors that were murdered or blinded. The ugliness of the fallen world and the crimes perpetrated in the Empire of New Rome does not diminish the sanctity of religious life in Constantinople. Cathedrals and Monasteries were built, and holy fathers and saints continued to work for the glory of God throughout the Empire.
What are we to make of the intrigue and factionalism in Orthodoxy today? The Emperors could be excused to an extent because they resided in the secular world. Critics of Byzantium cite the intrigue in the Empire but let’s be serious. There is not a single civilization or country that has ever been exempt from the realities of a sinful and corrupt world. America for example has made it a practice to bomb and invade other countries.
The Russian Empire like its Byzantine predecessor had its own sins but this did not mean that the Russian Empire was not a force for good. The primates, hierarchs, and clergy of the Orthodox Church have left the secular world and so the kind of intrigue that was in many ways understandable in Byzantium, is not so understandable within the Church of God. What would the apostles and the fathers of the Church think today?
The blame for the present crisis in Eastern Orthodoxy lies with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The Patriarchal invasion of the canonical territory of the Russian Church in 2018 is the source of all subsequent bitterness, instability, and factionalism that plagues Orthodoxy. As the rivalry between the ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Russian Orthodox Church heats up, Patriarch Bartholomew watches with indifference.
It is with horror and revulsion that I have been watching the schism gradually widen. The members of the Russian Orthodox Church and its daughter Church in Ukraine are brothers and sisters in the lord. The Ukrainian faithful have been persecuted for the last several years because they refuse to abandon the canonical Church for an artificially created entity brought into being in order to satisfy secular politicians in Kiev and Washington.
I happen to love the great Church of Constantinople. It is with horror that I have watched the Ecumenical Patriarch work with the anti Orthodox establishment in Washington to hurt the Russian Church. The actions of Constantinople are shameful and deplorable.
We are seeing the Russian Church establish an exarchate in Africa at the expense of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. I have mixed views as to the appropriateness of this action. What is absolutely certain is that if Patriarch Theodore had not emulated the example of Patriarch Bartholomew in Ukraine then the Russians would not now be in Africa. It should be emphasized that the Russians have always respected the boundaries of the ancient Patriarchates and treated them with honor.
The Greek speaking Orthodox Churches have adopted policies that contravene Orthodox ecclesiology. The synod of the Church of Greece and the Archbishop of Cyprus for reasons still unverified followed the destructive path set by Patriarch Bartholomew. The entire Ukrainian affair is not about healing the Church schism in that country. It is about destruction.
What good has come from any of this? We have the estrangement of Constantinople from Moscow. The estrangement of Alexandria from Moscow. The estrangement of the Greek Churches from their sister Churches.
Even the reputation of Mount Athos has suffered because a few Abbots inexplicably joined Patriarch Bartholomew’s anti Russian campaign. This is destruction and madness. The only way out is through repentance and the convening of an ecumenical council.
This byzantine intrigue has to end. The Ecumenical Patriarch is universally recognized as “first among equals”. Beyond a “primacy of honor” he has no rights or privileges.
Based on the continued deterioration in inter Orthodox relations it is apparent that the most logical way to defuse this crisis is to depose Patriarch Bartholomew. This can only be averted through repentance on the part of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The world has enough problems. Washington is provoking Russia again in Ukraine. The omicron variant is infecting people around the world. Transgenderism, infanticide, and gay radicalism are threatening the influence of Christianity in the western world.
The purpose of the Orthodox Church is to baptize the nations. The world is in darkness and needs the light of Jesus Christ. This inter Orthodox fighting is detrimental to the Church’s sacred mission.