The 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism is an ongoing

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

between the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

(ROC, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate) and the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

, which began on 15 October 2018 when the former unilaterally severed

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the latter. The resolution was taken in response to a decision of the

Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

of 11 October 2018, confirming its intentions to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the future. The decision also stated that the Holy Synod would immediately: reestablish a

stauropegion A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from , in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the Primate (bishop), primate or on the Holy Sy ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, i.e. a church body subordinated directly to the

ecumenical patriarch The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

; revoke the "Letter of issue" (permission) of 1686 that had given permission to the patriarch of Moscow to ordain the metropolitan of Kiev and lift the excommunications which affected the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and faithfuls of two unrecognized Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox churches. Those two unrecognized churches, the

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...

(UAOC) and the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv. After its unilateral declaration ...

(UOC-KP), were competing with the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially formed in 1990 in pla ...

(UOC-MP) and were considered "schismatics" (illegally segregated groups) by the Patriarchate of Moscow, as well as by the other Eastern Orthodox churches. In its decision of 15 October 2018, the

Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church () serves by Church statute as the supreme administrative governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church in the periods between Bishops' Councils. Members Chairman * Kirill – Patriarch of ...

barred all members of the Moscow Patriarchate (both

and

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

) from taking part in communion,

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, and

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

at any church controlled by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Before that, in response to the appointment of two

exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

s of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate had decided, on 14 September 2018, to break off participation in any episcopal assemblies, theological discussions, multilateral commissions, and any other structures that are chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The schism forms part of a wider political conflict involving Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its military intervention in Ukraine, as well as Ukraine's desire to join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. This schism is reminiscent of the Moscow–Constantinople schism of 1996 over canonical jurisdiction over

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, which was, however, resolved after less than three months. On 21 October 2019, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, the

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece (, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its canonical territory is confined to the borders of Greece prior to th ...

, sent a peaceful letter to Epiphanius, the primate of the

Orthodox Church of Ukraine The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on . Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...

(OCU, that was formed by the unification of the UOC-KP, UAOC, and parts of the UOC-MP on 15 December 2018). This decision was supported by the whole hierarchy (bishops) of the Church of Greece, minus seven metropolitans. This decision meant that the Church of Greece recognized the OCU. The ROC had announced previously it would break communion with any

hierarch An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...

of the Church of Greece who enters in communion with any hierarch of the OCU. On Sunday, 3 November 2019,

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Kirill or Cyril (, , secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, ; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1 February 2009. Prior to beco ...

did not mention the primate of the Church of Greece in the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

, removing him from the

diptych A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...

. On 26 December, the ROC broke eucharistic communion with the

Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria has the title Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. The term "Greek" is a religious identifier and not an ethnic one; while many of these patriarchs were ethnic Greeks, some were Hellenized Egy ...

, Theodore II, and ceased commemorating him, because he had recognized the OCU the month before. On 20 November 2020, the Holy Synod of the ROC declared that Patriarch Kirill can no longer commemorate Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus as a result of Chrysostomos' commemoration of Epiphanius on 24 October 2020. On 22 November 2022, Theodore II of Alexandria stopped the commemoration of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

Background

History of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine

After the

Christianization of Kievan Rus' The Christianization of Kievan Rus' was a long and complicated process that took place in several stages. In 867, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople told other Christian patriarchs that the Rus' people were converting enthusiastically, but his ...

these lands were under the control of the metropolitan of Kiev. Among the 24 metropolitans who held the throne before the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

, only two were of local origin and the rest were Greek. Usually, they were appointed by Constantinople and were not chosen by the bishops of their

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s, as it should be done according to the canon. After the Mongol invasion, the southern part of

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

was heavily devastated and the disintegration of Kievan Rus' accelerated. Metropolitan Kirill II, who occupied the throne for 30 years, spent almost all of his time in the lands of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' and visited Kiev only twice, although earlier he had come from Galicia and had been nominated for the post of metropolitan by Prince

Daniel of Galicia Daniel Romanovich (1201–1264) was Prince of Galicia (1205–1207; 1211–1212; 1230–1232; 1233–1234; 1238–1264), Prince of Volhynia, Volhynia (1205–1208; 1215–1238), Grand Prince of Kiev (1240), and King of Ruthenia (1253–1264). B ...

. After the new Mongol raid in 1299, Metropolitan Maksim finally moved to Vladimir in the north, and did not even leave a bishop behind. In 1303 a new cathedral was created for south-west Rus' in Galicia and the new Metropolitan was consecrated by Constantinople, but its existence ended in 1355 after the

Galicia–Volhynia Wars The Galicia–Volhynia Wars were several wars fought in the years 1340–1392 over the succession in the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as Ruthenia. After Yuri II Boleslav was poisoned by local Ruthenian nobles in 1340, both the Gran ...

. In 1325,

Metropolitan Peter Metropolitan Peter may refer to: *Peter of Moscow (died 1326), metropolitan of Kiev *Petro Mohyla (1596–1647), metropolitan of Kiev and Ecumenical Patriarch *Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813–1851), metropolitan of Cetinje and ruler of Montenegr ...

moved to Moscow, thus greatly contributing to the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which gradually conquered other Russian principalities in the northeast of the former Kievan Rus'. Another part of Kievan Rus' gradually came under the rule of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, which entered into rivalry with Moscow. In particular, the Grand Dukes of Lithuania sought from Constantinople a separate metropolitan for the Orthodox who lived in their lands. Although the metropolitan in Moscow continued to retain the title of "metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus, he could not rule the Orthodox outside the borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Constantinople twice agreed to create a separate metropolitan for Lithuania, but these decisions were not permanent, Constantinople being inclined to maintain a single church government on the lands of the former Kievan Rus'. In 1439, Constantinople entered into union with the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In Moscow, this decision was rejected outright, and Metropolitan Isidor, consecrated by Constantinople, was accused of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

, imprisoned, and later expelled. In 1448, the council of north-eastern Russian clergy in Moscow, at the behest of Prince

Vasily II of Moscow Vasily II Vasilyevich (; 10 March 141527 March 1462), nicknamed the Blind or the Dark (), was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1425 until his death in 1462. He succeeded his father, Vasily I, only to be challenged by his uncle Yuri of Zveni ...

, elected

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

the metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople. In 1469 Patriarch Dionysius I stated that Constantinople would not recognize any metropolitan ordained without its blessing. Meanwhile, the metropolis of Kiev (de facto in

Novogrudok Novogrudok or Navahrudak (; ; , ; ) is a town in Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Novogrudok District. As of 2025, it has a population of 27,624. In the Middle Ages, the city was ruled by King Mindaugas' son V ...

) stayed under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Moscow's de facto

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Constantinople remained unrecognized until 1589 when Patriarch

Jeremias II of Constantinople Jeremias II of Constantinople (; 1530 – 4 September 1595) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople three times between 1572 and 1595. Life Jeremias Tranos was born in Anchialos, from an influential Greek family. The year of his birth i ...

approved the creation of a new, fifth Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow. This decision was finally confirmed by the four older patriarchs in 1593. The Patriarch of Moscow became the head of "all Russia and Northern countries", and

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

(now in Ukraine) was one of his dioceses. However, he had no power among the Orthodox bishops of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, who remained under the rule of Constantinople. At the same time, the Orthodox hierarchs of those lands were inclined to the Union with Rome, despite the resistance of their parishes, who formed the Orthodox brotherhoods (or fraternities) to keep their identity. On the way from Moscow, Jeremiah II visited the lands of present-day Ukraine and committed an unprecedented act, granting '' Stauropegia'' (direct subordination to the Patriarch) to many Orthodox brotherhoods. This provoked the anger of the local bishops and soon the

Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...

was proclaimed, which was supported by the majority of the Orthodox bishops of the Commonwealth, including Metropolitan Michail Rogoza. Officially, the Orthodox (but not the

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

) Metropolis of Kiev in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was eliminated and re-established only in 1620, in subsequent co-existence with Uniate Metropolis. That led to sharp conflict and numerous revolts culminating in the

Khmelnytsky uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

. In 1654, Russia entered the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; it quickly occupied, for a while, the lands of present

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, and gained some power over the Hetmanate pursuant to the Pereyaslav Agreement (1654). The official title of

Patriarch Nikon of Moscow Nikon (, ), born Nikita Minin (; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from 1652 to 1666. He was renowned for his eloquence, energy, piety and close ti ...

was "Patriarch of Moscow and all Greater, Lesser, and White Russia". However, the Metropolitan of Kiev Sylvester Kosiv had managed to defend his independence from the Moscow Patriarchate. The Moscow government, which needed the support of the Orthodox clergy, postponed the resolution of this issue. In 1686, Ecumenical Patriarch Dionysius IV approved the new metropolitan of Kiev, Gedeon Chetvertinsky, who would be ordained by the Moscow Patriarchate and thus transferred, albeit with certain qualifications, a part of the Kiev ecclesiastical province to the jurisdiction of Patriarchate of Moscow (the Russian Orthodox Church). In the 1924 Tomos (decree) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which granted independence to the

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...

, the previous transfer of the Kievan Church to the jurisdiction of Moscow (in 1685–1686) was declared uncanonical. In addition, the decree pointed out that the conditions of the synodal "Act" of 1686 – which specified that the Russian Orthodox Church was only to consecrate the metropolitan of Kiev – were never adhered to by the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Post-Cold War, claims of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and ''Russkiy mir''

The historical rivalry between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church intensified after the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Indeed, after the Cold War, Moscow and Constantinople both emerged as "two centers of Orthodox power".

Claims of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Patriarchate of Constantinople claims that:

''Russkiy mir''

''Russkiy mir'' (literally "Russian world") is an ideology promoted by many in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. "This ideology, concocted as a reaction to the loss of Russian control over

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

after the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, seeks to assert a spiritual and cultural unity of the peoples descended from the

Kievan Rus Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...

, presumably under Russian leadership." Patriarch Kiril of Moscow also shares this ideology; for the Russian Orthodox Church, the ''russkiy mir'' is also "a spiritual concept, a reminder that through the baptism of ''Rus'''','' God consecrated these people to the task of building a ''

Holy Rus Holy Rus' or Holy Russia () - is an important religious and philosophical concept which appeared from the 9th century and developed gradually from the 16th century to the 21st century by people in Grand Duchy of Moscow, East Europe, Central Eur ...

''." On 31 January 2019,

declared concerning the religious relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and

: "Ukraine is not on the periphery of our church. We call

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

'the mother of Russian cities'. For us Kiev is what Jerusalem is for many. Russian Orthodoxy began there, so under no circumstances can we abandon this historical and spiritual relationship. The whole unity of our Local Church is based on these spiritual ties." This ideology was condemned as heretical by the Patriarchate of Alexandria on 23 November 2022.

1996 schism over Estonia

The Moscow–Constantinople schism of 1996 began on 23 February 1996, when the

severed

with the

, and ended on 16 May 1996 when the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate reached an agreement establishing parallel jurisdictions. The excommunication was in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's decision on 20 February 1996 to reestablish an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

Orthodox church in Estonia under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's jurisdiction. The 1996 schism has similarities with the schism of October 2018: both schisms were caused by a dispute between the

and the

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen Autocephaly, autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...

concerning the canonical jurisdiction over a territory in Eastern Europe over which the

claimed to have the exclusive canonical jurisdiction, such territory being a part of the former Soviet Union, which upon its collapse had become an independent state. The break of communion in 1996 was made by Moscow unilaterally, as in 2018.

September 2018: Russian Orthodox synod's "retaliatory measures" and the aftermath

On 14 September 2018, in response to the appointment of two exarchs (deputies of the Ecumenical Patriarch) in Ukraine, Daniel (Zelinsky) and Hilarion (Rudnyk), and in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's plans to grant

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

status to the Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine, the

held an extraordinary session to take "retaliatory measures" and decided: A statement was released the same day explaining the situation and the sanctions taken to protest against the Ecumenical Patriarch's behavior. On the same day, ROC Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) clarified the situation in an interview, stating that this decision is not a rupture of Eucharistic communion and does not concern the laity, but nonetheless added: On 23 September 2018 Patriarch Bartholomew, during a

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

he was celebrating in the Saint Fokas Orthodox church declared that he "had sent a message that Ukraine would receive autocephaly as soon as possible, since it is entitled to it" On 30 September 2018, in an interview to ''Izvestia Daily'' published on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion commented: "The Russian Church does not need to fear isolation. If Constantinople continues its anti-canonical actions, it will place itself outside the canonical space, outside the understanding of church order that distinguishes the Orthodox Church." On 2 October 2018, Patriarch Kirill of the ROC sent a letter to all the autocephalous Orthodox churches to ask them to hold a "Pan-Orthodox discussion" concerning the question of Ukraine's autocephaly. On 5 October 2018, the Metropolitan Pavel, head of the

Belarusian Orthodox Church The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Eparchies and Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox eparchies in the ...

( exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church), announced there would be a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 15 October in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. He said that "The situation with the Orthodox Church in Ukraine will be on the agenda of the meeting". This meeting had been announced previously on 7 January 2018 and was at the time "most likely to take place in mid October." On 9 October 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church warned that "if the project for Ukrainian autocephaly is carried through, it will mean a tragic and possibly irretrievable schism of the whole Orthodoxy." He added that

Autocephaly of the Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine

On 11 October 2018 the synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced that it would grant

autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

to the "Church of Ukraine" in the future. In the same decision the Holy Synod announced that it will immediately: reestablish a

(church body ruled directly by the Ecumenical Patriarch) in Kyiv, revoke the legal binding of the letter of 1686, and lift the excommunications which affected clergy and faithful of two Ukrainian Orthodox churches (the UOC-KP and the UAOC). Those two churches, the UOC-KP and the UAOC, were competing with the

(UOC-MP) and were considered "schismatics" (illegally segregated groups) by the Patriarchate of Moscow, as well as by the other Orthodox churches. This decision led the

to break

with the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 15 October 2018, which marked the beginning of the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism. Support for the grant of autocephaly had been expressed by the

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

and the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

in June 2018, and before that by the Rada in June 2016. On 15 December 2018, the

(OCU) was formed after a unification council between the UAOC, the UOC-KP, and two bishops of the UOC-MP; Epiphanius was elected primate of the OCU during this unification council. Most of the hierarchs of the UOC-MP ignored the council and over half of them had sent invites back to the Ecumenical Patriarch. On 5 January 2019,

Bartholomew I Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...

, the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

, signed the official decree ( ''tomos'') that granted

(independence) to the

and officially established the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. On 6 January, after a Liturgy celebrated by Metropolitan Epiphanius and Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Bartholomew read the ''tomos'' of the OCU and then gave it to Metropolitan Epiphanius. On 8 January 2019, the ''tomos'' was brought back to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

so that all the members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate could sign the ''tomos''. The ''tomos'' was signed by all members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 9 January 2019. The ''tomos'', signed by all members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was brought back to Ukraine on the morning of 10 January 2019. Right after the granting of the tomos of autocephaly to the OCU (6 January 2019), a leadership conflict arose within the OCU. The local council of the UOC-KP (convened by Filaret) decided to cancel the decisions of the unification council of the Orthodox churches of Ukraine on 20 June 2019.

Break of communions with the other autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches by the Russian Orthodox Church

Break of communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate

On 15 October 2018, the

, meeting in

, decided to cut all ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate. This decision forbade for any member of the ROC (both

and

) joint participation in all

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

s, including communion, baptism, and marriage, at any church worldwide controlled by Constantinople. At the time of the schism, the Russian Orthodox Church had over 150 million followers, more than half of all Eastern Orthodox Christians. The same day, after the synod, a briefing for journalists was given by Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which he declared that "the decision on complete cessation of the Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople was taken today." On 18 October 2018, the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Pat ...

has expressed "complete support of the position taken by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, following its meeting of 15th October 2018" and severed Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The break of communion was done in response to a decision of the Holy synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 11 October 2018 which confirmed the intention of moving towards granting

(independence) to the Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and to immediately: reestablish a

(UAOC) and the

(UOC-KP), were competing with the

(UOC-MP) and were considered "schismatics" (illegally segregated groups) by the Patriarchate of Moscow, as well as by the other Eastern Orthodox churches. Doctor in theology of the UOC-MP argued that the break of communion between the churches of Moscow and Constantinople did not constitute a real

(like the schism of 1054), but a "slit". The American Protestant magazine ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' called the break of communion between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church the "biggest schism since 1054" and "the biggest Christian schism since the Protestant Reformation" On 17 October, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, was interviewed by the ''BBC Russian'' Service; this interview was published on the official website of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church the very same day. Hilarion declared: "As of today, we have very clearly stated: the fact that the Patriarchate of Constantinople has recognized a schismatic structure means for us that Constantinople itself is now in schism. It has identified itself with a schism. Accordingly, we cannot have the full Eucharistic communion with it." Hilarion added that when members of the Russian Orthodox of Moscow Patriarchate pay visits to the monasteries on Mount Athos, they cannot participate in the

s (for example, receive communion), and promised punishment to any priests who participate in the divine services together with the local clergy. It is known that Russia makes large donations to the monasteries on Athos: the sum of $200 million was announced by a source close to the Moscow Patriarchate and confirmed by Hilarion in his interview. Hilarion hinted that " story shows that when Athos is concerned over something, the monasteries on the Holy Mountain do find ways to inform the Patriarch of Constantinople about it" and called on Russian businessmen to switch donations to Russian sacred places. On 29 December, during an interview to the channel '' Russia-24'', Metropolitan Hilarion declared the Patriarch of Moscow had informed during the last meeting of the Supreme Diocesan Assembly of Moscow that the faithful of the ROC could

communicate Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...

in the territory of the

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

, but only in the Saint Panteleimon Monastery. The territory of the Mount Athos is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Hilarion declared the Saint Panteleimon Monastery "belongs to the Constantinople Church, as do all monasteries on Mt. Athos, but we know that it was built with Russian money by Russian monks and houses a Russian and Ukrainian monastic brotherhood, all rites are performed in a Slavic language and the laity who come there may take communion in it ..But not in other Athos monasteries". On 27 September 2021,

declared he was "very much upset by the fact that today the Patriarch of Constantinople has lapsed into schism because he took communion together with schismatics and recognized self-ordained clergy who do not have lawful consecration by canonical hierarchs". On 3 December, Ecumenical Patriarch, despite the decision of the Moscow Patriarchate, states there is no schism between Moscow and Constantinople.

Break of communion with the Archbishop of Athens

On 17 October 2019, the Holy Synod of the ROC reacted to the announcement that the Church of Greece had recognized the OCU. The Holy Synod stated: "If the Ukrainian schism is really recognized by the Greek Orthodox Church and its Primate – either in the form of a joint service, liturgical commemoration of the leader of the schism or sending official letters to them – it will be a sad testimony to the deepening division in the family of local Orthodox Churches. ..We cease the prayer and Eucharistic communion with those bishops of the Greek Church who have entered or will enter into communion with representatives of the Ukrainian non-canonical schismatic communities. ..the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church authorizes his Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia to stop the commemoration of the name of His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and the entire Greece in the diptychs if the Primate of the Greek Church begins to commemorate the head of one of the Ukrainian schismatic groups during divine services or takes other actions indicating the recognition of the Ukrainian schism." In the same statement, the Holy Synod announced that the ROC would not be blessing

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

s of faithfuls of the ROC to Greek

s whose hierarchs are in communion with representatives of the OCU. On 21 October 2019, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece, the

of the Church of Greece, sent a peaceful letter to Epiphanius, the primate of the OCU. This decision was supported by the whole hierarchy (bishops) of the Church of Greece, minus 7 Metropolitans; the Metropolitan of Piraeus later said he in fact did not support this decision, explaining: "My phrase 'I disagree but support the archbishop' was distorted beyond recognition." This decision meant that the Church of Greece recognized the OCU. The head of the external relations department of the ROC, Metropolitan

Hilarion Hilarion (291–371), also known by the bynames of Thavata, of Gaza, and in the Orthodox Church as the Great was a Christian anchorite who spent most of his life in the desert according to the example of Anthony the Great (c. 251–356). While ...

, stated that the ROC regretted this decision and that "the Greek Church is not independent, there is no full autocephaly, full independence, half of its hierarchs are hierarchs of the Constantinople Patriarchate, it does not have its own external policy, and therefore it always follows in the footsteps of the Constantinople Patriarchate." Hilarion stated that he hoped "no other regional church will follow this sad example." Thereafter, the Pilgrim Centre of the Patriarchate of Moscow, which is the official pilgrimage centre of the Moscow Patriarchate, released a list of dioceses of the Church of Greece which were considered "undesirable for pilgrimage" and to which the pilgrims of the Russian Orthodox Church were "not blessed" to go in pilgrimage. This list namely contained the diocese of Athens of the primate of the Church of Greece. This list was done on the basis of 17 October 2019 decision of the Holy Synod of the ROC not to bless pilgrimages to dioceses whose hierarchs enter in communion with representatives of the OCU. On 2 November, Metropolitan Hilarion stated: "We said that if the

archbishop of Athens The Archbishopric of Athens () is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. Its incumbent (since 2008) is Ieronymos II of Athens. ...

officially recognizes the Ukrainian schism, his name will be removed from the diptychs of the Russian Orthodox Church. What does that mean? It means that the patriarch will not mention the archbishop of Athens in his services, the same way as he is not mentioning the patriarch of Constantinople. I think he will not be mentioned this coming Sunday when the patriarch holds his service. That means we are stopping Eucharistic communion with the archbishop of Athens." On Sunday, 3 November 2019, Patriarch Kirill did not mention the primate of the Church of Greece in the liturgy, removing him from the

Break of communion with the Patriarch of Alexandria

On 8 November 2019, the Moscow Patriarchate announced that Patriarch Kirill would stop commemorating the Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa after the latter and his Church recognized the OCU that same day. On 25 November 2019, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow temporarily suspended the Moscow mission of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. The future closing of the representation of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Moscow was announced. On 6 December 2019, the Holy Synod of the UOC-MP announced it had severed eucharistic communion "with the Patriarchate of Constantinople and with the Churches and hierarchs who have recognised the schismatics" On 24 December 2019, Metropolitan Hilarion said that " the Patriarchate of Alexandria sides with the schism, then we might, of course, have to create parishes for our believers, because they won't be able to take communion at churches of the Patriarchate of Alexandria." Two days later, the Synod of the ROC in Moscow announced it severed full communion with the Patriarch of Alexandria and ceased commemorating him. In addition, the Synod of Moscow decided to suspend the activities of the

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( or ; ) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or autonomous church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation (or ...

(embassy) of the Alexandrian Patriarchate under the Moscow Patriarchate. It was also decided that the Representation of the Patriarchate of Moscow under the Patriarchate of Alexandria in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

would become a parish of the ROC. As for the parishes of the ROC in Africa, they will be removed from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and will be granted stauropegial status, that is, they will be transferred to the direct subordination of the head of the ROC, Patriarch Kirill. On 23 November 2022, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, meeting under the chairmanship of Patriarch Theodore II, decided the following things:

Break of communion with the Archbishop of Cyprus

On 20 November 2020, the Holy Synod of the ROC declared that Patriarch Kirill can no longer commemorate Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus as a result of Chrysostomos' commemoration of Epiphanius on 24 October 2020.

Further escalation

Russian priests in Turkey

On 10 November 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion, heads of the

Moscow Patriarchate The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...

's Office for External Relations said during a TV program on Russia-24 that the ROC had no choice but to "send priests of the Russian Orthodox Church" to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, " d this will continue as long as the Patriarch of Constantinople is in

". He said the ROC did not do so before because Turkey is a territory of the

, but that the ROC now does because the Ecumenical Patriarchate is in schism. On 12 November 2018, it was reported that the first priest was sent by Patriarch Kirill to Istanbul (Turkey) "at the request of Russian believers who live in Turkey". On the same day, the Russian Orthodox Church announced a

divine liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

had been held on 11 November in Istanbul and would be regularly held. The ROC also reported the words of the priest who had led the divine liturgy who said that after the 15 October 2018 decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, numerous Russian Orthodox believers of Turkey had asked the Moscow Patriarchate to provide them with "pastoral care". On 14 December the Ecumenical Patriarchate published a statement by Metropolitan Sotirios of Pisidia in which he condemned the plans of the ROC priest to celebrate a Divine Liturgy in Belek (Turkey) with the help of the Russian consulate and without the permission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which has canonical jurisdiction over this territory. On 30 December 2018, ''Interfax'' reported that the ROC was building a church on the territory of the embassy of Russia in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Dissolution of the AROCWE

On 27 November 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to dissolve the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe (AROCWE) "thereby entrusting its faithful to the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne in Europe". ROC officials responded with a reminder of the 2003 proposal of Alexy II to move to the Moscow Patriarchate. This decision was made without any official requests from the hierarchs of the diocese and caused confusion. On 15 December, Pastoral Assembly of AROCWE decided to call an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA), scheduled for 23 February 2019. On 23 February 191 out of the 206 voters of EGA voted against the dissolution. At the next Extraordinary General Assembly on 7 September 2019, 104 voters out of the 186 (58.1%) voted in favor of the AROCWE being subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate, but that was less than two-thirds of the votes needed to make such a decision. Despite this, the head of AROCWE on 14 September personally came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. On 3 November, the AROCWE delegation in Moscow received a letter on the reunification of the archdiocese with the Moscow Patriarchate. Some of AROCWE members joined the newly established "Vicariate of Russian Tradition of the Metropolis of France" which remained faithful to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Creation of the PEWE and the PESEA

On 26 November 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion declared that the ROC would send a priest in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and declared the plans "to create a full-fledged parish", because until the 1950s in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

was a Russian Spiritual Mission whose faithful were in the 1950s transferred to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's jurisdiction. The priest was scheduled to be sent by the end of the year. On 28 December 2018, in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's actions in Ukraine, the

decided to create the Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe (PEWE), the Spanish-Portuguese diocese, as well as the

Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia The Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia (PESEA, ) is an exarchate created by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on 28 December 2018. The primate of the PESEA is Metropolitan Sergius (Chashin) who holds the title of "Metropolitan of Singapo ...

(PESEA). On the same day, in an interview with Russia-24 channel, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations of the ROC, declared the ROC "will now act as if they

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

] do not exist at all because our purpose is missionary, our task is to educate, we are creating these structures for ministerial care about our flock, there can be no such deterring factors here", and that the ROC will take charge of the Orthodox faithfuls of its diaspora instead of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Further protests by the ROC

On 26 February, during the first 2019 session of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Holy synod adopted a statement saying that the granting of the tomos by the Ecumenical Patriarchate "to the so-called '

Orthodox church of Ukraine The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on . Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...

,' created artificially by a merger of two schismatic organizations, deepened the division between asternOrthodox Christians in Ukraine and worsened ever more considerably the inter-confessional relations." The ROC also blamed the action of the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

regarding the UOC-MP. On 7 October 2019, the ROC officially released comments by the Secretariat of the Biblical and Theological Synodal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church. "The document discusses the problems of

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

among schismatic " hierarchs", the limits of application of the oikonomia principle, issues of the lack of legitimacy of the OCU, the distortion of the role of the first bishop in the Orthodox Church, and explains the suspension of Eucharistic communion."

Omission of commemoration of all other primates by Patriarch Kirill

On 7 January 2019, during the festive Christmas liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Patriarch Kirill of the ROC did not mention a single name of the primates of other local Orthodox Churches, with whom the ROC is in canonical communion. Such commemoration is demanded by a church charter and is a centuries-old tradition. In contrast to this, the head of the newly created

, Metropolitan Epiphanius, solemnly listed the names of all the primates, including the "Most Holy Patriarch of Russia Kirill". Epiphanius later explained that he had done this after the

Ecumenical Patriarch The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

had instructed him (Epiphanius) to do so, and that Filaret had instructed him not to mention Kirill. On 20 November 2019, during the patriarchal

, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow did not commemorate by name any of the primates of the local Eastern Orthodox Churches, saying only "Remember, Lord, the Orthodox Patriarchs." On 21 November 2019, Patriarch Kyrill and

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (; ; born 4 April 1952) is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan Rive ...

concelebrate In Christianity, concelebration (from the Latin + , 'to celebrate together') is the presiding of a number of presbyters (priests or ministers) at the celebration of the Eucharist with either a presbyter, bishop, or archbishop as the principal cel ...

d a liturgy together. During this liturgy, they commemorated each others, but did not commemorate any of the other Eastern Orthodox primates.

Moscow Patriarchate receives priests from the Patriarchate of Alexandria

In September 2021, after

Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria Theodore (Theodoros) II (; born ''Nikolaos Khoreftakis'' (), November 25, 1954) is the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. He was previously a monk in the Agarathos Holy Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Ear ...

concelebrated a liturgy with Met. Epiphanius of Kyiv of the OCU, the Holy Synod of the ROC declared the ROC was accepting priests who wanted to leave the

Church of Alexandria The Church of Alexandria in Egypt was the Christian Church headed by the patriarch of Alexandria. It was one of the five sees of the pentarchy, alongside Rome, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem. Tradition holds that Saint Mark the Evangeli ...

to join the ROC due to their disapproval of the recognition of the OCU by the Church of Alexandria. On 29 December 2021, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill announced that 102 priests of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, from eight African countries, would be received into their

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

, and that Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church would be erected in Africa under an Exarchate.

Russian invasion of Ukraine and other churches

In October 2019, the Latvian Orthodox Autonomous Church (LAOC) became an officially registered church. LAOC split from the

Latvian Orthodox Church The Latvian Orthodox Church () is an Eastern Orthodox church in Latvia, part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy community. The Primate (bishop), primate of the church carries the title of ''Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia ...

(LOC-MP) and declared its loyalty to Ecumenical Patriarchate but was never recognized by it. On 27 December 2019, the

Parliament of Montenegro The Parliament of Montenegro () is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, with each member elected to a four-year term. Following the 2006 independence referendum, the Parliament declared and ratified t ...

passed a law which forces churches to prove their ownership over property gained before 1920 which was linked to the plans of the government to establish a

Montenegrin Orthodox Church The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (, Црногорска православна црква; abbr. MOC, CPC or ЦПЦ) is a canonically unrecognized Eastern Orthodox Church. It was formed in 1993 and registered as a non-governmental organization. ...

independent from the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

. In December 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced that he "will never grant autocephaly to the so-called Montenegrin Orthodox Church". After the 2020 election, the "Law on Freedom of Religion" was changed again by a pro-Serbian majority. On 8 July 2022, the Montenegrin government approved an agreement which obliges it to register all Orthodox churches and monasteries as belonging to the SOC and it has to seek SOC's approval before giving permission to the construction of new ones. In May 2022, the Council of bishops of the UOC-MP has cutting ties with ROC over handling, perceived betrayal, and consequences of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In May 2022, the Lithuanian Orthodox Church asked Moscow to grant it autonomy. The ROC appointed to committee to consider it. On 22 July 2022, there was an . Signers included members of the Romanian and Greek churches; of the ROC itself; priest Sergey Berezhnoy, Oleksandr Brodetskyi, protopriest , protopriest Vitaliy Eismonth, and of the OCU; of the Bulgarian Church; Gayle Woloschak of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA) is an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox body of the Ukrainian diaspora under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. It consists of two eparchies (dioces ...

and of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

. In 2022, the

(SOC) granted the

Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; ), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese of Ohrid (AO), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North Macedonia. The Macedonian Orthodox Church ...

autocephaly, a right traditionally belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarch. Primate Stefan rejected Constantinople's conditions for independence which included a

name change Name change is the legal act by a person of adopting a new name different from their current name. The procedures and ease of a name change vary between jurisdictions. In general, common law jurisdictions have looser procedures for a name chan ...

and the recognition of the OCU. Even though, they accepted the church into the communion, Constantinople and

rejected the autocephaly. Besides SOC, their autocephaly is recognized by the ROC, OCU, the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

, Antiochian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia,

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

and the

as of 2023. In April 2024, Metropolitan Kyrillos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate challenged the validity of the tomos of autocephaly granted by the Serbian church and accused it of having a pro-Russian orientation. On 9 September 2022, the Latvian parliament adopted amendments to the Law on the LOC-MP affirming the full independence of the Latvian Orthodox Church with all its dioceses, parishes, and institutions from any church authority outside Latvia (autocephalous church). By 1 October, the Chancery of the President must be notified of the appointment of the Head of the church, metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, and by 31 October, the Church will have to align its statutes with the amendments made to the Law on the status of the church. The decision came a few days after the president of Latvia,

Egils Levits Egils Levits (born 30 June 1955) is a Latvian politician, lawyer, political scientist and jurist who served as the tenth president of Latvia from 2019 to 2023. He was a List of members of the European Court of Justice, member of the European Cour ...

, tabled the bill saying that "this bill restores the historical status of the Orthodox Church of Latvia", stressing that the independence of the Church established "by the 6(19) July 1921 Tomos issued by Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Tikhon to Archbishop

Jānis Pommers Archbishop John (, , secular name Jānis Pommers or Ivan Andreyevich Pommer, ; 6 (18) January 1876 – 29 September (12 October) 1934) was the first Latvian Archbishop of the Latvian Orthodox Church, serving from 1921 to his assassination in 1934 ...

and the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 8 October 1926 on the Status of the Orthodox Church".Orthodox Church of Latvia seceded from Moscow – It was a matter of national security, says the President
orthodoxtimes.com 10 September 2022 In December 2022, George was elected new Archbishop of Cyprus by the Holy Synod, who wanted to continue the pro-western course. In the

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the tota ...

, Athanasios and Isaias, who opposed the recognition of the OCU got 35.7% and 18.1% respectively, while George got 18.4% of the vote. In June 2024, pro-Russian candidate Daniel of Vidin narrowly beat Grigory of Vratsa, who was seen as more neutral with 69 to 66 votes and became

Patriarch of All Bulgaria The Patriarch of All Bulgaria () is the patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The patriarch is officially styled as ''Patriarch of All Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia''. The current patriarch Daniil acceded to this position on 30 June 20 ...

. In February 2023, Bartholomew re-installed five Lithuanian priests of the ROC which were expelled for "canonical violations" but he accused the ROC of having them expelled for their opposition to the war. In early 2024, the Ecumenical Patriarchate founded the Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania challenging the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Lithuania. It was legally recognized by the Lithuanian government on 7 February 2024. The Romanian Orthodox Church came into some conflict with both the ROC and OCU, additionally to lesser extend with the OUC-KP, over the jurisdiction over

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

respectively. On 20 August 2024, the

passed the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Activities of Religious Organizations" banning the UOC-MP. UOC-MP was accused of "justifying the crimes against their own people" and the law is said to "serve the protection of the national security and freedom of religion". The same day, Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC-MP) declared unilaterally their

. A request to legally change their name to "Estonian Christian Orthodox Church" () was denied. On 9 April 2025, the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

passed a bill banning ties of churches to the ROC in regards to the EOC-MP. On 24 April,

Alar Karis Alar Karis (; born 26 March 1958) is an Estonian molecular geneticist, developmental biologist, civil servant and politician who, since 11 October 2021, has served as the sixth president of Estonia. Prior to presidency Karis was born in Tar ...

vetoed the law, while Minister of the Interior Igor Taro announced that he will continue the plans. On 27 May 2025, the UOC-MP held their third anniversary of the Feofaniyevsky Council where it declared autocephaly but a proposal to fully break with the ROC and return to a communion with Constantinople was not passed. In June 2025, a conflict broke out between the pro-Russian

Abkhazian Orthodox Church The Abkhazian Orthodox Church (, ) is an Eastern Orthodox church outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy. It came into existence when the ''Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy'' declared on 15 September 2009 that it no longer consid ...

and the pro-Constantinople over the New Athos Monastery, neither are recognised by the other Orthodox churches.

Reactions

International community

* : ** On 12 October 2018, the Russian president,

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, "held an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council" (the

Security Council of Russia The Security Council of the Russian Federation ( SCRF or Sovbez; ) is a constitutional consultative body of the Russian president that supports the president's decision-making on national security affairs and matters of strategic interest. Comp ...

) that discussed "a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues, including the situation around the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine", according to Putin's press secretary

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012. On 31 January 2019, concerning Ukraine Putin declared that the Russian authorities "consider any interference in church affairs absolutely unacceptable." Putin added: "We have respected and will respect the independence of church affairs, especially in a neighboring sovereign country. And yet we reserve the right to respond and do all we can to protect human rights, including the right to freedom of religion". ** Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...

stated that "only by strengthening the unity of the Orthodox people can the position of the ROC in Ukraine and the SOC in Montenegro be strengthened" and in May 2020, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Maria Zakharova Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova (, ; born 24 December 1975) is a Russian politician who serves as the director of the information and press department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federa ...

accused the United States of intending a schism in the Balkans (Montenegro). ** On 27 August 2024, Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Activities of Religious Organizations" as an attack on Christianity and the freedom of religion saying: "The Kyiv regime, unfortunately, continues to show its true nature. This is an open attack on freedom of religion, an attack on the Orthodox Church as a whole, and an attack on Christianity". ** On 10 April 2025, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova criticized the amendments to the Estonian Churches and Congregations Act and claimed that Estonia would "deliberately destroy fundamental human rights". * : ** Ukraine's president,

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

, enthusiastically welcomed Constantinople's October decision, and presented the Ukrainian Church's independence as part of Ukraine's wider conflict with Russia, and Ukraine's desire to integrate with the West by joining the

and

. On 28 November 2018, Ukrainian President Poroshenko declared that the Kerch Strait incident was provoked by Russia in order to force Ukraine to declare martial law and therefore to prevent Ukraine from receiving its tomos of

. ** Ukraine's president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

stated that draft law No. 8371 is important for strengthening Ukrainian spiritual independence, and he plans to discuss it with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. * : ** The Secretary of State,

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

, urged all sides to respect the independence of "Ukraine's Orthodox community", reiterating the United States' "strong support for religious freedom and the freedom of members of religious groups". ** In June 2020 the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom state that Christian rights have been attacked in Montenegro by a controversial law, and protests continue after the adoption of the Law on Religion, which many believe will allow the government to confiscate religious property, the ban on religious gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic has further increased tensions. Commissioner Johnnie Moore Jr. pay special attention to the arrest of Metropolitan Amfilohije. Commission are critical of the rather restrained attitude of European officials towards such persecution of Christians. The decision not to extend the position of the

Special Envoy, whose mandate included the promotion of freedom of religion and belief, is marked as particularly unjustified. ** On 9 April 2024, an official letter was sent to Ukraine from the

US Commission on International Religious Freedom The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. USCIRF commissioners are appointed by the president and the lead ...

expressing concern about the situation caused by the consideration of draft law No. 8371 in the Verkhovna Rada. At the end of April 2024, Ukraine sent a response emphasizing the role that national security played in monitoring religious activities. On 7 October 2024, U.S. Ambassador Michael G. Kozak, Head of the United States Delegation at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference (WHDC), stated that the U.S. is "concerned by the law’s potential to collectively punish entire religious communities." * : the

President of Belarus The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council of Belarus, Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Supreme_Counc ...

, the country in which the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church which decided to sever communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate took place, met members of the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 15 October 2018 after the ROC's decision to sever communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. * : ** On 21 December 2018, the Montenegrin President said the State of Montenegro had the responsibility to consolidate the autocephaly of the unrecognized

. On 11 June 2019, the Montenegrin President said he hoped for a "Ukrainian scenario" so that the Montenegrin Church could be recognized as

. ** On 17 May 2019, Prime Minister

Duško Marković Duško Marković (; born 6 July 1959) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the prime minister from 2016 to 2020. Formerly a high-ranking member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), he is now the president of the Party of European ...

defended the law which nationalizes religious buildings build before the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

stating "it is our duty to fully establish the cultural and civic identity of our country" after joining the "Euro-Atlantic family of modern Western democracies". On 22 January 2020, the Prime Minister accused Serbia of violating Montenegro's "sovereign right to decide upon internal affairs" by inciting "terrible aggression" and invited Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović of the SOC to discuss the law. ** On 18 April 2022, Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić announced that the government would sign an agreement with the Serbian church and " is issue must not be the subject of politicization or subterfuge for making political gains". On 12 September 2021, the Montenegrin President claimed that the government became "a professional service and extension of the Serbian church." * : ** In January 2019, the Speaker of the Parliament stated that the government will position themselves after "communicating with their Ukrainian friends and, naturally, with the eorgianPatriarch", Georgian President stated that she is less responsible than the Georgian church while the Georgian Prime Minister referred to the statement of the church. ** In March 2022, the Georgian President expressed her support for the autocephaly, which the Georgian Church does not recognize, stating that "Russia has lost all moral rights to be a co-believer in any other Orthodox Church". * : In January 2020, the Serbian President decided not to visit Serbian churches in Montenegro on Orthodox Christmas in order not to fuel the dispute. In June, the Serbian President asked during a visit by the Russian Foreign Minister for Russian support for the Serbian Church and stated his believe that Putin's presence at the inauguration of the

Church of Saint Sava The Church of Saint Sava ( sr-Cyrl, Храм Светог Саве, Hram Svetog Save, lit='The Temple of Saint Sava') is a 79 m high Serbian Orthodox church, which sits on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It was planned as the bishopric ...

would strengthen the position of the church. * : In September 2022, the Latvian President stated that the bill which declared the

autocephalous aims to restore its "historical status" and that "based on the rule of law the orthodox community needs its own autonomous and independent church." * : ** In March 2023, the Lithuanian Prime Minister claimed that "as Russia began its full-scale aggression in Ukraine with the open and active support of the Moscow Patriarch Kirill, some Lithuanian Orthodox can no longer in good conscience remain part of the Moscow Patriarchy" and supported the establishment of a Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania. ** On 12 July 2024, only representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate were invited to the inauguration of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda because of the "attitude towards the war in Ukraine" of ROC's Metropolitan Innokentiy. * : ** On 12 September 2023, the Estonian President met Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and thanked him for the Patriarch's and EAOC's support for Ukraine and for the establishment of the OCU. ** On 10 April 2025, Minister of the Interior Igor Taro defended the draft of a law criticized by the Russian Church as it intends to protect Estonia's faithful from falling under the direct control of a hostile state, a terrorist regime or an organization that supports aggression. On 24 April 2025, the President vetoed the law stating while " e Moscow Patriarchate undermines the sovereignty and democracy of states" " e issue is not the lack of legal tools, but rather their use." Earlier the day, Taro announced that he will continue the plans because " stoniacannot allow our religious believers to become dependent on hostile regimes, and that is an entirely universal principle". * : In August 2024, Committee on Security of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

called on the government to investigate the possible misuse of Orthodox churches Russian influence operations and recommended to deregister these if any legal violations are found. * : Spokesman of the governing party Adrian Vlas stated there are no plans for a law similar to Ukraine's. On 30 August 2024, the Moldovan President also denied such plans and stated that she has good relationships to both Metropolitans of the Russian and Romanian churches. * : In November 2024, the

Greek government The Government of Greece (Greek language, Greek: Κυβέρνηση της Ελλάδας), officially the Government of the Hellenic Republic (Κυβέρνηση της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας) is the collective body of the Gre ...

approved the creation of 600 organizational positions for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

in face of Russian pressure.

Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches

Numerous Eastern Orthodox churches took position concerning the question of the canonical jurisdiction over Ukraine, whether before or after this schism.

Canonical issues

The schism has its root in a dispute over who between the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Patriarchate of Constantinople has canonical jurisdiction over the See of

and, therefore, which patriarchate has canonical jurisdiction over the territory of Ukraine. " e principal argument proposed oncerning the granting of the ecclesiastical status of autocephaly to Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarchateis that Ukraine 'constitutes the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Moscow' and that, consequently, such an act on the part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate would comprise an 'intervention' into a foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction." The Patriarchate of Moscow's claim of canonical jurisdiction is based mostly on two documents: the ''Patriarchal and Synodal "Act" or "Letter of Issue" of 1686'', and a 1686 ''Patriarchal Letter to the Kings of Russia''. Both those documents are reproduced in the "Appendix" section of a study published by the Ecumenical Patriarch called ''The Ecumenical Throne and the Ukrainian Church – The Documents Speak''. The Church of Constantinople claims the Church of Constantinople has canonical jurisdiction over the See of Kyiv and that the documents upon which the Russian Orthodox Church bases its claim of jurisdiction over said See of Kyiv do not support the ROC's claim. On 1 July 2018, the Patriarch Bartholomew said that Constantinople was the

Mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and declared that The ROC considers this argument "groundless".

Ecumenical Patriarchate's claims

The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued a document authored by various clerics and theologians called ''The Ecumenical Throne and the Ukrainian Church – The Documents Speak''. This document analyzes canonical historic documents (namely the ''Patriarchal and Synodal "Act" or "Letter of Issue" of 1686'' and the 1686 ''Patriarchal Letter to the Kings of Russia)'' to see if the claim over the See of Kyiv by the Patriarchate of Moscow is canonical or not. ''The'' ''Ecumenical Throne'' ''and the Ukrainian Church'' concludes that: On 27 December 2016, Konstantinos Vetochnikov wrote that the transfer of the See of Kyiv from the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church "never took place". Later, Vetoshnikov made an analysis of the arguments of the Russian Orthodox Church. He pointed out that, according to the strict dogmatic approach ( akribeia, ''ἀκρίβεια''), the whole territory of Russia was originally subjected to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. After Muscovy had gone into schism in the 15th century, it received autocephaly according to a more flexible approach ( oikonomia, ''οἰκονομία'') to heal this schism. The

Metropolitan of Kyiv Metropolitan of Kyiv is an episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the metropolitan city — Kiev (Kyiv) — which today is located in ...

at the same time remained within the jurisdiction of Constantinople. Then, also according to the ''oikonomia'' approach, the right to ordain Metropolitans of Kyiv was transferred to the Patriarch of Moscow. This was not a change in the boundaries of the Moscow Patriarchate eparchy, as it was issued by a document of a lower level (ekdosis, ''ἐκδόσεως''), which was used for various temporary solutions. For pastoral reasons, the Ecumenical Patriarchate subsequently did not assert its rights to this territory. But after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

there was a split among the Orthodox of Ukraine, and the Russian Church for 30 years failed to overcome this split. And now, also for pastoral reasons, the Ecumenical Patriarchate was forced to act in accordance with the principle of ''akribeia'', and so it decided to abolish the right to ordain Metropolitans of Kyiv which had been earlier transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate in accordance with ''oikonomia''.

Arguments against the Ecumenical Patriarchate's claims

On 20 August 2018, the pro-Moscow anonymous site ''Union of Orthodox Journalists'' analysed the Ecumenical Patriarchate's claim of jurisdiction over Ukraine and concluded the See of Kyiv had been transferred to the Patriarchate of Moscow. They added that even if the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to abrogate the 1686 transfer, the territory covered in 1686 by the See of Kyiv's territory was "a far cry from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of today" and covered less than half of Ukraine's current territory. In its 15 October 2018 official statement, the Russian Orthodox Church gave counterarguments to the Ecumenical Patriarch's arguments. Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, declared in an interview that Constantinople's plan to "grant Autocephaly to a part of the Russian Orthodox Church ..that once was subordinate to Constantinople ..runs counter to historic truth". His argument is that the entire territory of Ukraine has not been under Constantinople's jurisdiction for 300 years because the Kyiv metropolis that was incorporated into the Moscow Patriarchate in 1686 was much smaller (it did not include Donbass, Odesa and some other regions) and therefore does not coincide with the present-day territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. A similar argument was given on 13 November in a live phone interview to

Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

by the Head of the Information and Education Department of the UOC-MP, Archbishop Clement. Archbishop Clement of the UOC-MP considers that "to revoke the letter on the transfer of the Kyiv Metropolis in 1686 is the same as to cancel the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils of the 4th or 7th centuries." On 8 November 2018, the ''Union of Orthodox Journalists'' analyzed the same documents as ''The Ecumenical Throne and the Ukrainian Church'' (the ''Patriarchal and Synodal "Act" or "Letter of Issue" of 1686'' and the 1686 ''Patriarchal Letter to the Kings of Russia)'' and again concluded that the See of Kyiv had been "completely transferred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Church in 1686".

Possibility of a pan-Orthodox synaxis on the question of Ukraine

The possibility of a pan-Orthodox synaxis (consultative assembly or conference) has been raised before and after the official break of communion. On 29 September 2018, , the press secretary of the Patriarch of Moscow, declared that the local Eastern Orthodox churches may initiate a pan-Orthodox Synaxis on the issue of granting autocephaly to the Church in Ukraine, however the problem was that the convening such a synaxis is "a prerogative of the First among the Equals, that is, the Ecumenical Patriarch". Volkov noted that On 7 November, answering the question "Who could, for instance, convene a Pan-Orthodox Council and chair it?", Metropolitan Hilarion declared in an interview, which was published on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations, that it was "obvious" that the Ecumenical Patriarch could not chair a Pan-Orthodox Council since "the most important problems in the Orthodox world are linked with precisely his anti-canonical activity". On 4 December, when asked about the fact that convoking a pan-Orthodox council was a prerogative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Metropolitan Hilarion replied: In an interview published on 21 February 2019 in the Serbian magazine

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

, the Ecumenical Patriarch said: "As for the provision of autocephaly with the consent of other Orthodox Churches, this did not happen, because it is not a tradition in our Church. All the Tomoses of the autocephaly that were granted to the newly created autocephalous churches (

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

and Presov) were provided by the

, and this was not preceded by any agreement or negotiation at the Pan-Orthodox level." Thus far, Patriarch

John X Pope John X (; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli, and was inst ...

of the

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Rūm Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of E ...

, Patriarch Irinej of the

, Archbishop Chrysostomos II of the

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus () is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; ...

, Metropolitan Sawa (Hrycuniak) of the

, Metropolitan Tikhon of the

, Archbishop Anastasios, primate of the

Albanian Orthodox Church The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania (), commonly known as the Albanian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Albania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It declared its autocephaly in 1922 through its Congress of 1922, a ...

, three hierarchs of the

(Metropolitans Gabriel of Lovech, John of Varna and Veliki Preslav, and Daniel of Vedin), and the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia have expressed their desire for a pan-Orthodox synaxis or pan-Orthodox council over the question of Ukraine in various statements. On 12 November 2018, the Assembly of Bishops of the

published a communiqué in which they requested the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Synod. In 2019, the

declared in a letter to Patriarch John X of Antioch that he would not convene a pan-Orthodox council on the question of Ukraine.

Proposal of the Patriarch of Jerusalem

On 21 November 2019,

announced he would like to gather in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

with the other Eastern Orthodox primates "in the spirit of fellowship – koinonia – so that counsel will be taken together for the preservation of our unity in Eucharistic communion." This initiative was welcomed by the ROC; Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the DECR, also added that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem had a "historic primacy" within the Eastern Orthodox Church. In December 2019, the

s of the OCCLS and of the ROC supported the proposal of meeting. On 22 November, the primate of the Church of Greece declined the invitation. At the beginning of January, the primate of the Church of Cyprus said he had not replied to the invitation because he "considered it prudent not to answer" and did not consider this meeting a "serious act", and added that "only the Ecumenical Patriarch, no one else" had the right to convene such a council. A few days later, the answer of the Ecumenical Patriarch to the letter of invitation of the Patriarch of Jerusalem was reported; the Ecumenical Patriarch stated he refused the invitation and asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to stop his initiative of meeting. A few days later, the primate of the Church of Greece reiterated that he would not attend Patriarch Theophilos III's meeting. Later, it was reported that the Orthodox Churches of Albania, Poland, Alexandria, Georgia, Bulgaria and Antioch had stated they would not come. The Romanian Orthodox Church said it would be present at the gathering, but would not be presented by its Patriarch but by a delegation. The gathering took place on 26 February 2020. Were present the delegations of: the ROC with Patriarch Kirill as leader, the Church of Jerusalem with Patriarch Theophilos as leader, the Serbian Church with Patriarch Irinej as leader, the OCCLS with primate Met. Rastislav as leader, the Polish Church with Abp. Abel (Poplavsky) of Lublin as leader, and the Romanian Church with Met. as leader. After the gathering, the participants released a common statement.

Background

History of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine

Post-Cold War, claims of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and ''Russkiy mir''

Claims of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

''Russkiy mir''

1996 schism over Estonia

September 2018: Russian Orthodox synod's "retaliatory measures" and the aftermath

Autocephaly of the Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine

Break of communions with the other autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches by the Russian Orthodox Church

Break of communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Break of communion with the Archbishop of Athens

Break of communion with the Patriarch of Alexandria

Break of communion with the Archbishop of Cyprus

Further escalation

Russian priests in Turkey

Dissolution of the AROCWE

Creation of the PEWE and the PESEA

Further protests by the ROC

Omission of commemoration of all other primates by Patriarch Kirill

Moscow Patriarchate receives priests from the Patriarchate of Alexandria

Russian invasion of Ukraine and other churches

Reactions

International community

Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches

Canonical issues

Ecumenical Patriarchate's claims

Arguments against the Ecumenical Patriarchate's claims

Possibility of a pan-Orthodox synaxis on the question of Ukraine

Proposal of the Patriarch of Jerusalem

See also

Eastern Orthodoxy

Politics

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading