LAVROV BLAMES U.S.A. FOR CRISIS IN ORTHODOXY
by Liudmila Troptsenko
Korrespondent, 14 January 2022
The U.S.A. "immediately had a hand" in the current crisis in Orthodoxy, the head of the MID [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] of Russia thinks.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov considers that the U.S.A. has a direct part in the crisis in Orthodoxy. He declared this at his [annual—tr.] press conference on Friday, 14 January.
"The United States of America had an immediate hand in the current crisis in Orthodoxy. They created a special mechanism, a special agency for the freedom of religious confession, which actually is not dealing with freedom but most actively set up and financed Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew so that he conducted a device for schism, particularly in Ukraine, in the first place, for creating there the schismatic, uncanonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine," he declared.
The diplomat said that the policy of the U.S.A. caused "the most serious dispute in the entire Orthodox world."
"Unfortunately, the Greek churches are under colossal pressure, particularly (so far as I know) under pressure of the Greek government," Lavrov declared.
He urged a means to guarantee freedom of religious confession.
"If we agree with the governments of those countries, with the diplomats of those countries on whose territory the canonical Orthodox churches are located, to not prevent them from living their life in accordance with their laws, their canons, this would be the most optimal contribution of diplomacy and other governmental structures in guaranteeing freedom of religious confession also," the head of the Russian foreign ministry said.
We note that at the press conference Lavrov accused NATO of attempting to attract new members artificially. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 January 2022)
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