MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2019) Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on Sunday did not mention Archbishop Jerome of Athens and All Greece among the primates of the local Orthodox churches at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The name of Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece also was not mentioned when, during the liturgy, the choir sang "many years" to the clerics.
In October, the archbishop recognized the autocephaly of the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine and sent a letter of congratulations to its self-styled primate Epiphanius.
On Saturday, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) stopped Eucharistic communion with Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece due to the recognition of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine, but this decision did not apply to the whole Greek Church, according to the Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR).
On January 6, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople handed over the Tomos of autocephaly to the newly established Ukrainian church. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize it. The Moscow Patriarchate has described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.
Last month, the Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece became the first Orthodox church to recognize Constantinople's decision to give the non-canonical Ukrainian church the Tomos of autocephaly. Additionally, the Synod granted Archbishop Ieronymos II the right to make decisions regarding the issue of autocephaly, clearing the way for the Greek church to take the next step and officially recognize the Ukrainian church.
