Patriarch John X of Antioch together with Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon (Patriarchate of Constantinople) attended the Papal Mass in Rome on June 29. Telegram channel “Labarum. Sim pobedishi” watched the video of the mass and wrote that the Patriarch of Antioch was present at it as a guest, without taking part in the service. Moreover, as far as can be judged from the video, he does not pray (the sign of the cross and other signs of prayer are not visible).

“True, an ambiguous moment arises after the Mass, when all Orthodox hierarchs descend with the Pope to the sarcophagus of St. Peter the Apostle. The shrine is common for Orthodox and Catholics. And, of course, praying beside her is clearly not a sin. But prayer is being performed at the same time. You can’t hear someone read it. Probably each his own prayer to himself. Because, it seems, prayer is not joint, but simultaneous, that it is not synonymous. As you know, when visiting Orthodox shrines belonging to Catholics, Muslims or Jews, you can often come across the fact that someone of the Gentiles is praying next to you, which is not a reason to refuse prayer. There are no canonical violations here, much less heresy.

But, nevertheless, the moment is alarming. Moreover, we are talking about the Antiochian Church, which did not recognize the Phanar’s decisions on Ukraine and is considered close in position to the Russian Orthodox Church,” writes the Telegram channel.