Russia will defend its Orthodox co-religionists – Lavrov
The Russian Federation does not interfere in church affairs, but will protect its fellow believers from the interference of other states.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated this during the “New Knowledge” forum, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Our American colleagues under Trump have created the position of a special representative for freedom of religion, who is doing exactly what he is trying to do to fragment the unity of Orthodox peoples and Orthodox churches. In Ukraine, you have seen everything using the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is an absolutely dependent person, and it is already clear that this is a tool in the hands of those who want to undermine the position of Orthodoxy.
They are destroying the Serbian Orthodox Church, destroying its canonical territory. They are also trying to extract Lebanon from under the Patriarchate of Antioch. All this is sad,” Lavrov noted.
“Our state does not interfere in the affairs of the church, but when other states interfere in the affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and its sisters in the Orthodox world, then our state must protect the interests of its fellow believers and like-minded people,” the minister added.
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