In a strong public statement, Metropolitan Iakovos of Ireland, condemned what he described as a “violent and unseemly” attack by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Bartholomew personally.
Referring to the recent SVR accusations, Metropolitan Iakovos stressed that they are entirely detached from reality and deeply damaging to the unity of the Church.
“A few days ago we were unfortunately witnesses to an unseemly attack by Russian SVR against our Ecumenical Patriarchate and, above all, against our Ecumenical Patriarch and spiritual father, His All-Holiness Bartholomew,” he stated.
He categorically rejected the allegations, underlining their destructive impact on the life of the Church:“The accusations put forward are false and unfounded; they do not correspond to reality but instead divide the Body of the Orthodox Church and brutally wound the Most Holy Body of Christ.”
Metropolitan Iakovos emphasized the historic and spiritual mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, describing it as one of self-emptying and sacrifice for the sake of the world: “Our Ecumenical Patriarchate has emptied itself, continues to empty itself, and will always empty itself for the salvation of the world.”
Highlighting the enduring witness of the Phanar, he added: “The Ecumenical Patriarchate and its Patriarch have written, are writing, and will continue to write history through blood, humility, and sacrificial love that ‘does not seek its own.’”
He urged those who promote or accept such accusations to seek truth rather than misinformation: “Those who fail to understand the above—and many other truths recorded and continually affirmed by history—should devote time to enriching their knowledge with the truth, rather than with unseemly falsehoods that distort the truth of the Church and serve evil and falsehood.”
Metropolitan Iakovos concluded his statement with an unequivocal condemnation of the actions directed against the Ecumenical Patriarchate: “These propagandistic statements and actions against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarch are unequivocally condemnable and must be rejected in their entirety.”
Affirming the ecclesiological role of the Phanar, he underlined: “The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew, are servants and bearers of the Truth, of the Orthodox Faith, and of authentic, canonical Ecclesiology.”
