Russian Orthodox Church Abroad suspends concelebration with Constantinople

The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) has suspended concelebration with the bishops of the Constantinople Patriarchate and participation in the work of the Episcopal Assemblies with their membership. A respective decision was taken at the Synod of the ROCOR, RBC-Ukraine reports.

It is reported that the decision was made after the Russian Orthodox Church represented by the Moscow Patriarchate suspended concelebration at the level of the bishops with the Constantinople Church, and also refused to participate in the joint episcopal assemblies.

As it was noted, after Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople declared that the Orthodox Church in Ukraine would receive autocephaly, the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate adopted a decision equivalent to the breach of diplomatic relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In particular, during the service Patriarch Kirill will not mention the higher-ranked church hierarchs of Constantinople.