"ПЕРШИЙ НЕ ТІЛЬКИ ЗА ЧЕСТЮ": АНАЛІЗ ЕКЛЕЗІОЛОГІЧНОГО НОВОВВЕДЕННЯ ЙОГО ВСЕСВЯТОСТІ ПАТРІАРХА ВАРФОЛОМІЯІ

Abstract

Based on the statements of Patriarch Bartholomew І, stated in an interview with the New York newspaper National Preacher, an analysis of his ecclesiological innovation is offered. We are talking about a radical revision of the problem of primacy at the level of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The principle that he declared "first not only in honor" should be taken as evidence of unconditional adherence to the provisions of universalist ecclesiology. On the other hand, his previous statements of agreement with the provisions of Eucharistic ecclesiology should be questioned. The article shows the discrepancy between the principle "the first not only in honor" with certain canons of the Ecumenical Councils. The implementation of this ecclesiological innovation led to a number of irreversible consequences that led to a crisis in relations between some autocephalous Churches. Evidence of this should be recognized: 1) verdict of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate (December 2013), which expresses distrust of those ecclesiological innovations that undermine the principle of conciliarism (sobornost); 2) the decision of the Council of Bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (September 2018) to grant autocephaly to a certain Church without coordination with the opinions of the primates of other local Churches; 3) the fact of granting the Tomos to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (January 2019). Two perspectives are proposed for the further introduction of the principle "the first is not only in honor" in theological discourses. We are talking about the path of "church modernization" or about the resumption of the policy of "Eastern papism" by the Ecumenical Patriarch. Hope is expressed for further efforts by Orthodox theologians in upholding the ecclesiological principle of "primacy in honor, but not in power".