Russians fear Emmanuel Adamakis may become the next Ecumenical Patriarch

Such promotion in the church hierarchy was estimated by the Russian media as a step to becoming Patriarch Bartholomew's successor.

"For Adamakis, this is a clear promotion in his ecclesiastical career, since the Metropolitan See of Chalcedon is the second most honorable after the Archdiocese of Constantinople headed by the patriarch. Also, at divine services, it is the Metropolitan of Chalcedon who stands second only to the patriarch.

In fact, this means that Emmanuel Adamakis is one of the two main contenders to replace the 80-year-old Patriarch Bartholomew. If Adamakis is still to head the Ecumenical Patriarchate in future, it means only one thing for the Russian Orthodox Church – relations with Constantinople still aggravating, since Adamakis is known for his rigid anti-Moscow position," Telegram-channel Religion Today wrote.

On February 16, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis of France the head of the Metropolis of Chalcedon. He is one of those bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate who actively participated in the creation of the local Orthodox Church of Ukraine and its receipt of the Tomos of autocephaly. On January 5, 2019, in Istanbul, during the official adoption on the occasion of the signing of the Tomos on autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko presented Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gaul with the order of Prince Yaroslav the wise IV degree, which he was awarded for outstanding activities aimed at strengthening the authority of orthodoxy in the world, affirming the ideals of spirituality and mercy, and a significant personal contribution to the development of the autocephalous Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.