Bartholomew anticipates a massive “squeeze” of churches in Ukraine
The Patriarchate of Constantinople reduces the entire dispute over Ukraine to a banal "expropriation" of material property. This was stated by Archbishop Clement, spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, at a press conference in Kyiv, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We are observing today the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which positions itself as first among equals. This Church, instead of setting an example of Christian relationship and Christian attitude to many problems and challenges that many local Churches have today, is today the source of many problems and many church divisions that bring enormous damage to the mission of the Orthodox Church.
What are we seeing today?
The Orthodox Churches, instead of doing what they were created for, are focused on this dispute regarding canonical territories, primacy, who should stand at worship in what place.
In addition, we see that in general everything comes down to a banal squeeze of material property, because, by proclaiming the territory of Ukraine as its canonical territory, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in addition to some spiritual aspects, implies purely material consequences by this proclamation. Because if the territory of Ukraine is now considered to be the territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, then religious buildings, all property, all material things, Constantinople has now declared everything its property,” said Clement.
Bartholomew anticipates a mass expropriation of churches in Ukraine.