U.S. and Ukraine are putting pressure on the Ecumenical Patriarchate – hierarch of the Church of Greece
The hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Seraphim of Cytheria and Antikythera, believes that the authorities of the United States and Ukraine are putting pressure on local churches, forcing them to recognize their tomos of the OCU.
“The acute and complex Ukrainian issue, unfortunately, arose as a result of constant and heavy pressure from the political subjects of the United States and the Ukrainian leadership on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Greece and other countries”, – said Metropolitan Seraphim.
He also noted that in a similar way, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is trying to achieve agreement and recognition of this fact from 11 Orthodox Churches. In his opinion, these churches “rely on the recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly, citing canonical reasons”.