Russian Church: A 'Mechanism of Propaganda' Exposed

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) defines itself as part of Russia’s national security system, with the aim of protecting individuals, society and the state from external threats. That is why the statement issued by the service, successor to the KGB, a few days ago against the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, caused a sensation. “We are entering uncharted waters,” His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon tells Kathimerini, noting that even the Ecumenical Patriarchate considers this statement to be a significant development that alters the context of the crisis that has been simmering for years in its relations with the Patriarchate of Moscow. In essence, this specific announcement constitutes tangible confirmation of the complete convergence of the Russian Church with the Russian leadership and “the transformation of the [Russian] Church into a mechanism of propaganda,” as Metropolitan Emmanuel says. The unprecedented attack against Bartholomew, in which SVR used particularly harsh language and references to “the devil incarnate,” accusing him of collaboration “with the British secret services,” and of relying on “ideological allies, in the form of local nationalists and neo-Nazis,” and the final conclusion that “he is literally tearing apart the living body of the Church and operating like false prophets,” raised a series of questions. Breaking with its usual position of avoiding commenting on similar attacks, the Ecumenical Patriarchate spoke of “imaginative scenarios, fake news, insults and fabricated information of all kinds of propagandists.” The personal nature of the attack on Bartholomew broke with the style of previous Russian-originated criticisms that have been launched against the Phanar in the past. An additional element, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate noticed, is that while until recently Russia accused the Ecumenical Patriarchate of being influenced by the United States, this recent announcement makes no such reference. On the contrary, it now talks about the British secret services. The assessment from the Phanar is that the new framework in the relations between the Kremlin and the White House brought about this change, while Russia may also be seeking to determine whether, and in what way, the US will react to the attack. The history Since 2013, when the Holy Synod of the Russian Church issued a statement questioning the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch, indicating its intentions to question more broadly his role and influence, much has happened. Certainly, the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in April 2018 to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was a turning point that exacerbated the crisis. Russia is working methodically and steadily to strengthen its influence in a number of patriarchates, while it sought to undermine the recent meeting of Bartholomew with Pope Leo XIV to celebrate the anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea – modern day Iznik. The recent development is shaping a new reality, as “barbarity tends to become the rule in interchurch relations,” according to Metropolitan Emmanuel. Where do you attribute Russia’s attack against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and personally against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew? The deepest cause of the aggression that was manifested by the Moscow Patriarchate against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and personally against His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, is unfortunately based on a very clear spiritual and ecclesiological deviation. The question reasonably arises as to why the present time has been chosen and why this fury is directed against specific persons, however it seems that this is ultimately the nature of secular power, when it is cut off from authentic ecclesiastical ethos. When theological reason disappears and the Gospel itself becomes simply a means of state imposition and political expediency, then, alas, only hubris remains. The target has now shifted from the institution – as the Ecumenical Patriarchate has a strong canonical armor of centuries, which remains unscathed and untouched by secret service announcements – and is now focused on the man, in the person of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch. This attempt to strip the person of his spiritual paternity is inextricably linked, on the one hand, to the intention of his moral degradation and, on the other, to the effort of presenting the Primate of Orthodoxy as a common agent of foreign centers, a fact that betrays the inherent inability of secular power to understand spiritual freedom. If, through the logic of absolute identification, the Moscow Patriarchate remains bound to a paradoxical dependence on the state, then the freedom that the Phanar radiates becomes unbearable for them, because freedom always scandalizes those who do not possess it and causes pain that is difficult to hide. What does the fact that this particular announcement comes from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service signify? The mention of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service alone may ultimately constitute the most revealing “moment of truth” for the Moscow Patriarchate, as the ecclesiastical pretenses have completely collapsed. The discussion has strayed dangerously from the Synodal decisions, the sacred canons and the genuine ecclesiastical ethos, and now concerns “services” and secular mechanisms, demonstrating the absolute secularization and complete alienation of the ecclesiastical mind. The major issue, to which this situation leads, concerns the transformation of the Church into a straight-out mechanism of propaganda, something which is terrifying if one considers it with theological criteria, because when the grace of the Holy Spirit gives way to espionage, then ecclesiology gives way to geopolitical expediency. Why is such extreme language adopted for the Ecumenical Patriarch? The extreme nature of the language is due, in my opinion, to the complete absence of a theological counter-narrative, as violence, whether exercised verbally or physically, is always the refuge of panic and weakness. There is talk of “neo-Nazis” and “agents,” very heavy words that are thrown around without the fear of God, while perhaps the lack of a real enemy has imposed the invention of goals to achieve the rallying of their domestic audience. The essence lies in the construction of an imaginary enemy and the Ecumenical Patriarch is the ideal “opponent” for them, because his ecumenical dimension and his reach make him, by definition, unbearably bright by their own standards. What are the points of this particular announcement that you consider most important and why? In the telling of their fictional narrative, there is a detail that may escape the attention of many: While until recently the Americans were responsible, now, suddenly, the British and their secret services have appeared. It seems that the Russian leadership is trying to balance its relations with the new administration in Washington and is anxiously looking for another culprit for the suffering it has caused, revealing enormous spiritual poverty. Trying to interpret the anxiety of the Baltic or Ukrainian peoples for their ecclesiastical freedom and existence by simply labelling it as a “foreign finger” is tragic and essentially belittles the Orthodox peoples themselves, ignoring that they possess will, judgment, and God-given autonomy. You cannot see everything through distorting lenses, and this very attitude constitutes their great error. Has there been any recent development, any new fact, that may have triggered this reaction, or are we expecting some development that the Russian side may be rushing to comment on? No new fact has emerged, at least in the journalistic sense of the news, nor is there any hidden agenda, but what prevails is the attrition that works relentlessly to their detriment. We should be clear on this point: The Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the issue of Ukraine and the canonical granting of autocephaly, will never change its position, as the issue has been established ecclesiastically and cannot be reversed. Now they see cracks in the Baltics, Lithuania and Estonia, where they thought the Soviet legacy – the remnants of the past in church administration – would last forever, but the edifice is not holding up, demonstrating an environment where the demand for freedom functions more as an existential necessity than as a political ploy. What is the situation regarding the churches of the Baltic countries? In the Baltic countries the situation has been tense for years, but what has changed essentially is the will of the people, who, far from belligerent dispositions, seek their spiritual integration into European reality, refusing to accept a Moscow Patriarchate that blesses wars in their name. It must be emphasized that the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not create the problem but came to cure the canonical disorder of the Moscow Patriarchate, sharing the anguish of the people, as it has been doing for centuries. Let us not forget that both the churches of Estonia and Latvia had been declared autonomous by the Patriarchate already in the past, while today the establishment of an Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania is an event of the utmost importance, which gives hope to the frightened Orthodox Christians. This move, as well as the support for Estonia, instead of “invasion” as it is wrongly called, in reality constitutes the essential healing of a wound that was violently opened in 1945. Does this announcement create a new environment, a new framework in the relations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the Moscow Patriarchate and in what direction? We are indeed facing a new environment and entering uncharted waters, less because something has changed in essence and more because barbarity tends to become the rule in interchurch relations. We are maturing, learning to recognize what institutionalized barbarity is and what the total war declared by the Moscow Patriarchate means, nevertheless we keep hope alive. The Phanar responds with the silence of prayer and, when necessary, with the word of truth, and everyone should know that the door of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is and will always remain open for a sincere dialogue.