The Russian press welcomed the announcement by the Patriarch of Jerusalem of an initiative to host the Orthodox Primates in Jordan to discuss the issue of unity of the Orthodox Churches.
The Interfax Agency describes Patriarch Theophilos as “one of the main allies of the Patriarchate of Moscow on the ‘Ukrainian issue'”, essentially removing any nuggets of neutrality left to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who, in one day, with his attitude and choices, managed to give rise to concern to the whole Orthodox world.
According to Interfax, Patriarch Theophilos had not accepted representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Autocephalus) at the Shrines in Jerusalem in the past year.