Between July 14 and 16, 2020, the popular news agency Romfea.gr published three diatribes, which are openly directed against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and especially the person of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
On the occasion of the highly contentious and controversial issue of the conversion of Hagia Sophia from a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum into a mosque, Romfea.gr, “without contemplation, without sorrow, without shame” did not hesitate, once again, to inform its mostly Greek readership about the “bile” that is hurled by agents of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His All-Holiness.
The July 16 article entitled “The Russophones of Turkey attended the Divine Liturgy at the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Myra,” highlighted the uncanonical actions of the Moscow-posted priest George Sergeyev in the canonical territory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This priest does not hesitate to use the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to make special entreaties, such as “For peace in Ukraine and for good neighborly relations between Russia and Turkey.”
It must be asked: based on which canonical order is the aforementioned priest under the centuries-old jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, “responsible for tending the flock of Russian-speakers in the Turkish Republic,” and in fact even of Russian believers from Antalya, Belarus and Ukraine? The responsible canonical hierarch in the territory of St. Nicholas Basilica is Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Myron, as the successor of many great holy hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, bearing the title “of Myra.”
Similarly, in Antalya, the Orthodox hierarchal shepherd under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is Metropolitan Soterios of Pisidia and Exarch of Side, who with sweat, tears and blood tries to resurrect the churches of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that were founded by St. Paul the Apostle.
Of course, what goes beyond limits of journalistic ethics is the fact that they (perhaps unknowingly?) published an unverified photo, not from the recent illegal “invasion” of July 14, 2020 in Myra, Lycia, which was attended only by very few pilgrims, but from an unrelated visit of a group of Russian tourists.
In the July 16 article entitled “Patriarch Bartholomew, instead of dealing with the problem of Hagia Sophia, dealt with the Ukrainian issue,” Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol, once again pours “poison” on the person of the Ecumenical Patriarch. He, too, has arbitrarily stopped, just as all those under the Moscow Patriarchate, to call the Patriarch of Constantinople “Ecumenical,” thus being aligned with and promoting the policy of the Turkish government.
In an hour-long interview on a television program, which Romfea.gr quotes in the Russian language for better informing its Greek audience, the aforementioned Metropolitan “clarified that this event did not happen suddenly.” He goes on to say that, “For many years, the President of Turkey has openly stated his intention to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque, but Patriarch Bartholomew, instead of defending the Byzantine Cathedral, dealt with the Ukrainian issue,” as if the two issues are related or even mutually exclusive.
Moreover, in the July 14 article entitled “The Orthodox Liturgy will sound again in Hagia Sophia,” in a phrase that came out of the malevolent lips of Anthony of Borispol, the Ukrainian hierarch refers to “severe deprivations – squatting of churches, violation of rights and administrative pressure” from the Ukrainian authorities to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onouphrios, which he represents; he also speaks of “ambitions, lust for power, heresies and schisms,” by which he targets, indirectly, but clearly, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, adding: “It is no secret that history tends to repeat itself, as well as the fact that she does not forgive the mistakes of those who forget her bitter lessons”.
How is it that Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol knows all these and how does he dare express himself with such indecency about the Ecumenical Patriarch? Is it believable that he knows better and with superior discernment than the Ecumenical Patriarch what is happening in Turkey and what delicate balances the Phanar maintains, from the fall of Constantinople until the present day, in order to preserve the sanctities of Orthodoxy?
It is also worth wondering if those who publish the reports on Romfea.gr will have the decency not to be triumphant when “The Orthodox Liturgy will sound again in Hagia Sophia,” this time not in Greek with Byzantine chanting, but in Slavonic! For Anthony of Borispol to say something to this effect, perhaps he is being used and manipulated to circulate underhanded schemes concocted between Presidents Putin and Erdogan … for those who have ears, let him hear.
Evagelos Sotiropoulos has written extensively on Orthodox Christianity for a number of publications. Evagelos is the author of “Witnessing History: The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church” and Editor of “Bartholomew in Canada: A Twenty Year Celebration” (2018), as well as “The Ecumenical Patriarchate and Ukraine Autocephaly: Historical, Canonical, and Pastoral Perspectives” (2019).
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