In a recent interview with Viche, a Ukraine-based media platform focused on Orthodox dialogue, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America discussed the ongoing invasion of Russia into Ukraine and its impact on Orthodox unity, as nearly 2 million casualties, missing, or injured are now counted between the two countries.
Archbishop Elpidophoros reminded listeners of what Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew repeatedly stated: the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has become an instrument “to promote the secular, military, political, and financial interests of the Russian state.”
“This is a very dangerous path,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “The Russian people are faithful. They don’t deserve such church leadership. They deserve a Church which is faithful and following the teachings of the Gospel, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the traditions of the Orthodox Church.”
In reference to recent hostile statements made earlier this month by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Archbishop highlighted the well-known history of the Russian government using Orthodoxy as a tool of the state, as well as the Moscow Patriarchate’s history of leveraging political pressure on Orthodox Ukrainians.
“For those of us who really are familiar with Orthodoxy in Russia, we were not surprised by the recent statement of the Russian government against the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “The church has always been a tool of the state. Even from the times of the Tsars.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros observed that the SVR’s statement, which claimed the Ecumenical Patriarchate wished for further division within Orthodoxy, only further verified the Russian government’s tendency to engage in church matters as a means of exerting foreign influence.
“Unfortunately, an intelligence service is interfering with church affairs,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “We are not a secular organization. We are a spiritual organization, and no state can dictate to the Church what to do. We need to maintain the sacramental communion among us.”
In 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which then elected Metropolitan Epiphanios as its head. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) under the leadership of Metropolitan Onufriy remains nominally within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Of course, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is here to help restore Orthodox unity in Ukraine,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “Since [Ukraine] is a sovereign country, an independent country, an old church, a well-organized church. But this church was divided just because pressure from above, from Russia, didn’t allow the local church to grow and to develop its autocephaly and independence. This pressure from Russia was for political reasons, not for ecclesiastical reasons.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros elaborated on the decision of Ukrainian hierarchs and clergy who have chosen not to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, stating that many did not join because they experienced blackmail, pressure, and threats from Russian intelligence and security services.
“That’s the real reason, let’s be open and honest about what is happening,” His Eminence said.
Archbishop Elpidophoros also spoke about his ties to the Ukrainian Orthodox world, referencing his visit to Ukraine with Metropolitan Volodymyr of blessed memory (UOC-MP). The Archbishop also referred to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Ukraine in 2008, at the invitation of Patriarch Alexi of blessed memory and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
“It really pains me to see the situation today with the barbaric invasion of the brother country Russia,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said, “I feel the pain of the Ukrainian people and, of course, all the mothers from both sides who lose their children in this war.”
Photo by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman
