“With the stroke of a pen, he reshaped the borders of local churches,” Hilarion (Alfeyev) once again accuses Patriarch Bartholomew

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokalamsk of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the conference participants from Moscow. Following the Primate of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Onufriy, he also questioned the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch and accused Patriarch Bartholomew of “abolishing the multimillion-flock church with the stroke of a pen." Metropolitan Hilarion's speech was shared by the official website of the UOC MP.

Metropolitan Alfeyev, in particular, stated:

"When in 1054 there was a break in communion between Constantinople and Rome, the primacy in the family of the Eastern Orthodox Churches automatically passed to Constantinople. But this was the primacy of honor, not power, and the patriarch of Constantinople was perceived as "the first among equals."

Now theologians from the Church of Constantinople claim that he is "the first without equals." That he can redraw the borders of local churches at his own discretion. That he can invade the borders of local churches, restore his own order there and organize his own stavropegia. That for all churches it is the highest court of appeal. That he could, with the stroke of a pen, abolish a multi-million-strong church with more than a hundred bishops, more than twelve thousand parishes, more than two hundred and fifty monasteries, and transfer its rights and names to a schismatic structure. That he can declare the saint a legitimate bishop and "restore the rank" to a person who has never had such a rank or lost it due to falling into schism...

Threats to the unity of Orthodoxy arising from the actions of the patriarch of Constantinople require broad conciliar understanding on the part of hierarchs, clergy, monks and laity."