“his Church had “diminished itself” by granting autocephaly, only to receive a “cup of ingratitude” in return
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“Constantinople “diminished itself and itself granted them ecclesiastical independence, known as autocephaly – it weakened itself in order to serve each Orthodox people.”
“And not infrequently, the Mother Church received from these Churches a cup of ingratitude
“the Ecumenical Patriarch accused Local Churches of ingratitude and also made a thinly veiled reference to the Serbian primate, who has still not made a “peace visit” to the Phanar.
“the ingratitude of the Church of Russia – and not only of Russia – toward the Mother Church of Constantinople, from which they received the light of the Christian faith and enlightenment continues
“Indeed, it was not from Moscow that we received our autocephaly. It was not Moscow that granted us the Tomos, nor did recognition of our Church’s authenticity depend upon Moscow—just as the authenticity of Paul’s apostleship did not depend upon the opinions of his opponents,” Metropolitan Epifaniy stated. “Just as Paul was called to become an apostle by the Head of the Church Himself, so we received the Tomos and the proclamation of our status as an autocephalous Local Church from the first among the Primates of the Orthodox Church—the Ecumenical Patriarch, who alone, according to the conciliar canons, possesses this authority.
“Just as Paul was called to become an apostle by the Head of the Church Himself, so too we received the Tomos and the proclamation of our dignity as an autocephalous Local Church from the first among the Primates of the Orthodox Church – from the Ecumenical Patriarch, who alone is vested by the conciliar canons with such a right
“a concelebration between him and MOC hierarchs would have been taken by Constantinople as the MOC indirectly recognizing the validity of OCU Sacraments and clergy.
“the parishioners have long been accustomed to a constant struggle for survival and accepted the difficult situation with humility