ROC: Only some Primates but not Synods of Churches endorse Tomos

Archbishop Leonid. Photo: blagos.ru

On November 6, 2020, the Deputy Chairman of the ROC DECR, Archbishop Leonid of Vladikavkaz and Alan of the Russian Orthodox Church, said that the Tomos of the OCU is supported by the Primates of individual Churches, but not by the Holy Synods. The bishop spoke about this during the Strategy with Anna Shafran program.

According to the hierarch, the Tomos issued by Patriarch Bartholomew is not a legitimate document.

He stressed that support for the Tomos in individual Churches occurs at the level of Primates, but not at the level of Synods, where bishops have full voting rights, and the Synods of the Alexandrian and Cypriot Churches did not give their Primates any "carte blanche" and the right to individually decide on the issue of recognizing the OCU.

Vladyka recalled, “The Church is not just an organization and a club of interests. It is a community of believers in Jesus Christ, which adheres to certain canons, frameworks and rules," and each bishop has a certain framework and limits for his activities.

“It's one thing when you alone recognize a person who put on a cassock and called himself the ‘Primate of the Church’, and another thing when he is recognized by the fullness of the Local Church,” Abp. Leonid said and stressed that at the moment “many people are protesting against unilateral decisions" on the recognition of the OCU.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that hundreds of clergymen of the Alexandrian Church want to be in the Russian Orthodox Church.

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