The Patriarchate of Moscow, represented by Patriarch Kirill, intensified the verbal confrontation with the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Alexandria, the Church of Greece and any other Orthodox Churches that will recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the future.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, like George W. Bush, divided Orthodoxy into two groups according to his own criteria; one is called the “good” forces, in other words, those who consider the Orthodox Church of Ukraine to be a “non-canonical group” as he described the “forces of evil.”
He targeted once again has the Ecumenical Patriarchate, without naming it, saying, “It is amazing how under the influence of external political factors our Orthodox brothers are embarking on a path of recognition of the schismatics – people who have no lawful ordination, who, in fact, are laymen calling themselves clergymen!”. The Patriarch of Moscow also described it as “especially dangerous and sad that the schismatics receive support not from some marginal groups, as was formerly the case, but from among the canonical Local Churches,” hinting at the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of Greece as well as those bishops of other Churches who have concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with clergymen and bishops of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The Patriarch of Moscow considered that “nobody yet knows the aftermath of this situation” and appeared as a pioneer who works “in order that the forces of evil may not shatter the unity of Orthodox Churches, that the good and evil forces may not mix and turn into some amorphous mass.”
Patriarch Kirill announced that the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church might also define the position of the Patriarchate of Moscow at its forthcoming meeting in December “in relation to the schisms and to those of our brothers who, regrettably, support these schisms,” as he stated.
