Metr. Emmanuel: 'Constantinople or Moscow' Dilemma is a Wound to the Church

Photo: Patriarchate of Constantinople

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA — Metr. Emmanuel of Chalcedon delivered a keynote address on February 24 at a conference dedicated to the church history of Ukraine and relations between Constantinople and Moscow, offering pointed reflections on the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

The metropolitan described the consequences of the OCU’s creation as “a wound on the body of the Church,” while placing responsibility for that wound on the Moscow Patriarchate, which he said severed communion with the Phanar and forced other Local Churches into a painful dilemma — “Constantinople or Moscow?”

He also addressed tensions surrounding church property, including the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, calling it a center of “sad clashes.” Metr. Emmanuel emphasized that healing requires repentance and a willingness to accept responsibility rather than assign blame. Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that “church freedom is born in anxiety, struggle, and often in blood.”

Previously, the UOJ reported that Metr. Emmanuel stated that the OCU autocephaly was absolutely justified. 

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