Cyprus, November 28, 2019
Photo: romfea.gr
A hierarch of the Jerusalem Patriarchate has called on the world’s Local Orthodox Churches to show some humility and desire to preserve Church unity and accept the Patriarch of Jerusalem’s invitation to a council in Jordan.
During a recent trip to Moscow, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem announced an invitation to the primates of the Local Churches to gather in Jordan for a “brotherly meeting in love” to “discuss the preservation of our unity in Eucharistic communion.”
However, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, who has officially recognized the Ukrainian schismatics, immediately rejected this call for brothers to gather in love, saying only the Patriarch of Constantinople has the power to summon such a council, though Patriarch Bartholomew has already refused many calls to convene a council.
However, if the Churches are interested in unity, they must “renounce their interests and privileges of origin” and accept Pat. Theophilos’ offer, His Eminence Metropolitan Timothy of Bostra, the Exarch of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Cyprus, believes, according to an appeal published yesterday on Romfea.
The Orthodox Church finds itself in a very difficult situation due to the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s anti-canonical invasion of the territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Met. Timothy believes, and it is extremely important to find a way out of this impasse as soon as possible.
Despite the opinion expressed by several primates within the Greek world, including Abp. Ieronymos and His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Met. Timothy recalls that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem has, in fact, already been the meeting place of primates, where historical decisions were made to protect the faith.
“Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are not the first to meet in the Holy City on matters of great importance to the Church! After the Ferraro-Florentine meeting, the three Patriarchs met in Jerusalem and condemned the signing of the Union,” Met. Timothy noted.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople fell into heresy at the Council, capitulating to Catholic heresies, such as the notion of the Pope of Rome as the head of the entire Church.
See the article, “The Council of Jerusalem of 1443” at Orthodox Synaxis for more information on the Synaxis of Primates that was not called by Constantinople.
The Jerusalem hierarch also pointed to the important Biblical witness that it was in Jerusalem that the apostles gathered to discuss a number of issues in the emerging Church under the headship of St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem. As he notes, while the First See changes with political power, for Christians, the Holy City remains “the City of Christ the King,” and the Jerusalem Church is revered as “the Mother of All Churches.”
“The daughter Churches today, in connection with the impasse that has arisen in Orthodoxy because of the Ukrainian question, that are already experiencing a sad split, if they are really interested in the unity of the CHURCH … should renounce their interests and privileges of origin and, putting on the robe of humility and reconciliation, follow the call of His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem and after long prayers, meet in the Holy Spirit to find a solution to the problem dividing the Church of Christ, so that the unity of the Orthodox can be restored,” Met. Timothy emphasized.
Met. Timothy of Bostra has shown himself to be a friend of the canonical Ukrainian Church who is interested in preserving Church unity. The hierarchs of the Jerusalem Patriarchate admire and are strengthened by the strong stance of the hierarchs of the canonical Ukrainian Church headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, Met. Timothy told the visiting Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye last month.
After Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria suddenly decided to recognize the schismatic OCU, Met. Timothy canceled his plans to concelebrate with the Patriarch, who began a trip to Cyprus the day after he first commemorated Epiphany Dumenko.
