Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople created a precedent in Ukraine, which, if repeated in the Balkan Peninsula, would lead to the severing of the Eucharistic communion with the Phanar by the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, Bishop Anthony of Moravic, who represented the SOC at the international theological conference in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra “The Unity of Church: theological, canonical and historical dimensions,” warned about this, reports the Information Center of the UOC.

The hierarch said, “A rupture can occur if the Patriarch of Constantinople single-handedly decides on “autocephaly” to the schismatics in Montenegro or Macedonia, as he did in Ukraine by issuing a tomos to the OCU.”

“If any decisions are made on the issue of Macedonia, Montenegro, then, most likely, we can expect such an unfortunate phenomenon that can break the Eucharistic relationship between Constantinople and the Serbian Church,” said Bishop Anthony.

Earlier, the head of the DECR of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion, noted that the “Phanar primacy” became a bone of contention in Orthodoxy.