RUSSIAN ORTHODX CHURCH, UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, and the ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

A RELIGIOUS DISPUTE WITH PURELY GEOPOLITICAL CHARACTER In the Orthodox Christian the system of church governance is purely democratic, in contrast to the monarchical system of the Vatican world (today, I would say, the synodic/democratic system is mostly within the Greek-speaking churches). At the head is the president of the church (called a Patriarch or Archbishop), followed by the Bishops and Metropolitans. The local Patriarch has only spiritual jurisdiction over the Province of each Metropolitan and no administrative authority. Administrative decisions are made solely by the local Metropolitan. The Holy Synod of Metropolitans, chaired by the Patriarch or Archbishop, decides on church matters by majority vote. Orthodoxy is structured into national churches. Each nation has its own Patriarch, who cares for the administrative affairs of his church within the borders of his state. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is the oldest institution/ patriarch of the Orthodox Church and is considered "First among equals" (Primus inter pares) among the other Patriarchs. He holds exclusive spiritual jurisdiction (not administrative, as the Vatican does) over the entire Orthodox world, globally. He has the right to convene Pan-Orthodox Synods to decide ( by majority vote) on church issues, and to grant the «Tomos of Autocephaly» to new independent Orthodox churches. All Orthodox churches worldwide became autocephalous through a «Tomos» granted by the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Russian Church, by contrast, is the only one (today schismatic in orthodox world) with a centralized, monarchical, "Papal" system. Its Metropolises do not possess the democratic autonomy found in the Greek-speaking churches, and the Patriarch of the Russians governs his church not democratically through majority rule, but as a monarch with one-man authority. Beyond the issue of democracy, the Russian Church challenges the Primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch based on the number of faithful. It claims that since the Russian Church has the largest number of believers, it should henceforth be considered the Ecumenical Throne and the primary church of Orthodoxy. This is akin to Brazil—the largest Roman Catholic country—saying, "We are the most numerous, therefore our Cardinal should be Pope from now on, based in Brazil and not the Vatican!" All of this is part of a Russian geopolitical game. Throughout the centuries, and even during the era of atheistic communism, the Russian Empire supported its power and expansionism using Orthodoxy as an ideological vehicle. It projected itself as the "Mother Protector" of Orthodox peoples, but in the end, its true goal (as proven by history) was the subjugation of these peoples to the chariot of Russian imperial Pan-Slavism. The Russian Church has always functioned as a branch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow. In Greece, for example, the Church is part of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs! The post-communist (1991) dispute over spiritual and not only, primacy in the Orthodox world with the Ecumenical Patriarch can only be viewed—and addressed—through this prism. Part A