George K. Tzanakis | November 8, 2026 | Orthodoxos Typos
“The
Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome has throughout the ages constituted
the visible and actual bond of unity of the Lord’s ecclesial Body and, at the
same time, the guarantor of that unity, in accordance with the provisions
laid down by the divine Fathers in their conciliar pronouncements.”
Patriarch Bartholomew
October 17, 2026, Sofia, Bulgaria. [1]
These things are said by the
present Archbishop of Constantinople concerning whoever may occupy the office
of Archbishop of Constantinople at any given time, and therefore concerning
himself as well.
In other words: “The visible and actual—that
is, existing, actually subsisting, real—bond of the body of the Church is the
Archbishop of Constantinople”!!!
One man, the Archbishop of
Constantinople, is the bond of unity of the entire Church!!!
I suppose that anyone with even
an elementary understanding of the Church would be troubled, astonished, and
perplexed by these statements, just as I am upon hearing them. In the divine
services, we hear that the Lord is the firm foundation of those who believe
in Him, that is, of the Church, and it is to Him that we human beings—all
of us, clergy and laity alike—pray that He may establish the Church: “O
Lord, Thou Who art the firm foundation of those who put their trust in Thee,
establish the Church which Thou hast purchased with Thy precious Blood.”
Is it not, to say the least,
strange for a man, even if he is an Archbishop, to claim that he himself unites
and establishes the Church of Christ?
(What follows are only a few
observations on a few points, for if one were to examine the entire address,
then… time and courage would fail him.)
Let us compare the Patriarch’s
statement with a passage from one of the saints of our Church (just one passage
among the countless passages from this same saint, and the equally countless
passages from the other saints of our Church):
“In the Theanthropic Body of the
Church, the Holy Spirit holds together in unity, through the grace of the
Holy Mysteries and the holy virtues, all the faithful who have been baptized
through Him and who constitute the Body of the Church.” - St. Justin (Popović) of Ćelije, The
Orthodox Church and Ecumenism, p. 36. [2]
Patriarch Bartholomew himself
(which is why I quote this passage) describes the theology of St. Justin as
follows:
“Living and relevant to the
present day, a theology which springs from participation in the worshipping,
liturgical, spiritual, ascetical, and diaconal experience of the Church … and
expresses the inseparable unity of dogma and ethos, faith and life…” [3]
In other words, according to St.
Justin, whose theology is “living and relevant to the present day … and
expresses the inseparable unity of dogma, ethos, and faith” (according to the
Patriarch of Constantinople), it is the Holy Spirit Who ensures the unity and
cohesion of the Church. How does He accomplish this? Through His divine power:
“The Holy Spirit, through His
divine power, unites all the faithful into one body, that is, into the
Church, for ‘by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body … and have been
all made to drink into one Spirit’” (1 Cor. 12:13). - St. Justin (Popović) of Ćelije, op. cit.,
p. 33.
Can the divine power of the Holy
Spirit be compared with the power of any human being? Can the guarantee
provided by the Holy Spirit be compared with that provided by any human being?
What are we even discussing here?…
The adjective “actual” (ὑποστατός)
denotes “that which exists in substance, that which actually exists, that which
constitutes the foundation, the underpinning, the basis” (D. Dimitrakos, Great
Dictionary, Vol. XIV, p. 7505). Thus, there is no room for anything else.
Since the Archbishop of Constantinople constitutes the “actual bond of unity
of the Lord’s Ecclesiastical Body,” there can be no other such bond!!!
How is it possible, then, for the
same man, the Patriarch of Constantinople, to acknowledge the theology of the
great St. Justin while simultaneously theologizing in a manner contrary to it?
Given that St. Justin’s theology is Scriptural and Patristic theology (not
post-Patristic, that is, anti-Patristic), how is it possible for the Patriarch
of Constantinople to contradict the theology of the Holy Fathers while at the
same time declaring that:
“We assure you that we have
followed in all things the sanctified and well-trodden path of our Fathers. We
have never, for any reason, departed from what has been handed down to us to
this day. Whatever the Church has always done, we too do today.” - Patriarch
Bartholomew (op. cit.).
(Anyone, even the most
well-disposed person, can recognize that, in view of the Patriarch’s words and
deeds, this passage appears ironic and contradictory, and that each of its
sentences ought to be subjected to analysis, as a cause for reflection among those
who, ignoring his deeds, content themselves with the foregoing words.)
In any case, according to the
Patriarch’s statement above, we are called upon to place our hope in the unity
guaranteed by a human being, namely, the Archbishop of Constantinople. If the
words “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man” (Jer. 17:5) hold true,
are we not placing ourselves under a curse by entertaining such hopes, given
that the Holy Spirit is He “Who spake by the prophets,” and therefore also
through the Prophet Jeremiah?
It is also striking that the
Patriarch describes his role as the bond and guarantor of the unity of the
Church by employing the neologism “throughout the ages” [διαχρονικῶς]!!!
The Church, as a Body,
encompasses all the faithful throughout the entire world and of all ages,
including even those who lived before the coming of Christ, as well as those
who will exist in the future.
“And what is meant by ‘one
body’? The faithful throughout the whole world, those who now exist,
those who have existed, and those who shall exist. Likewise, those who pleased
God before the coming of Christ are also one body. How so? Because they too
knew Christ. Whence is this evident? ‘Abraham our father,’ He says, ‘rejoiced
to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.’ And again He says, ‘Had ye
believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me,’ as did the
prophets. For they would not have written concerning One Whom they did not
know, nor spoken the things they did; but knowing Him, they also worshipped
Him. Therefore, they too are one body.” - St. John Chrysostomos, Patrologia
Graeca, vol. 62, col. 75.
Does he consider that, even for
those who lived before Christ, the bond and guarantor of unity is whoever
happens to be Patriarch of Constantinople at any given time, even though
neither Constantinople nor, consequently, its Patriarch existed then?
But during the first three
centuries of the Church, when Constantinople did not even exist, who was the
bond and guarantor of the unity of the Church?
And what of the future? If, God
forbid, the Church of Constantinople should cease to exist, as did the churches
mentioned in the Book of Revelation, who will guarantee the unity of the
Catholic Church?
As the saints teach:
“In her (the Church), all
things are from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.” - St.
Justin of Ćelije, Dogmatics, p. 367. [3]
The Holy Trinity, therefore, is
the Creator, the unifying principle, and the guarantor of the unity of the Body
of the God-man, the Church, against which “the gates of hell shall not
prevail,” precisely for this reason.
At what point in time, and for
what reason, did the Holy Trinity cease to be the guarantor and sustaining bond
of the Church, only to be replaced thereafter, “throughout the ages,” by
whoever happens to be Archbishop of Constantinople?
What are the “provisions laid
down by the divine Fathers in their conciliar pronouncements” to which the
Patriarch refers?
Can there be provisions
established by the Holy Fathers that replace the Providence of the Triune God
for the Theanthropic Body of the Church with the providence of a human being,
himself a member of the Body of the Church?
If such provisions do indeed
exist, let them be presented clearly and precisely, with specific references
and supporting documentation, so that the perplexity of those who have such
questions may be resolved.
Furthermore, if this is true,
namely, that “the Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome has throughout
the ages constituted…” etc., does this not mean that Macedonius I,
Nestorius, Sergius I, John Bekkos (and so many other Archbishops of
Constantinople who were shown to be heretics and condemned by Ecumenical
Councils) were also bonds and guarantors of the unity of the Church, even
though, as heretics, they were precisely the opposite?
Meletios Metaxakis, Metropolitan
of Kition, subsequently—by the favor of the Venizelists—Archbishop of Athens,
then of America, thereafter Ecumenical Patriarch (for 17 months), and
subsequently Patriarch of Alexandria, a Freemason—according to the Grand Lodge
of Greece [4] and the documentary evidence that exists [5]—did he too, during
his tenure as Archbishop of Constantinople, constitute the visible and actual
bond of unity of the Church of Christ? Yet, quite apart from everything else,
he also proved to be a cause of schism through his alteration of the Church
calendar… In the other Patriarchal or Archiepiscopal offices he held, did he
have no connection with this role of being the embodiment and guarantor of
ecclesiastical unity?
How exactly, and from what
source, is this attribute conferred upon whoever happens to be Archbishop of
Constantinople, and not upon any other Archbishop? Is it something akin to the
infallibility of the Pope of Rome, who becomes infallible as soon as he is
elected?
But we hope that those at the
Patriarchate, those who embrace these positions, or others who specialize in
theology, will graciously clarify these matters, since we, insignificant and
wretched as we are, have such questions.
However much we may wish the
present Patriarch a long life, because of his age he will inevitably follow the
immutable rule that applies to every mortal. At that point, the new bond of
unity will become (according to what is being said) either Elpidophoros of
America, or Emmanuel, formerly of France, or Makarios of Australia. In any
case, however, according to the statements of Patriarch Bartholomew, whoever
may be elected, the “guarantee of the unity of the Lord’s Ecclesiastical
Body” and the path to salvation for us all are assured. Therefore, there is
no need for either concern or anxiety.
All this brings to mind the
incident involving a Roman Catholic monk who, in 1978, following the death of
the Pope, happened to be on Mount Athos and asked St. Paisios to pray that God
would raise up a new and good Pope.
The Saint then gave him a
friendly pat on the back and, with the characteristic humor for which he was
known, replied:
“Don’t be troubled at all.
Whoever becomes Pope, he too will be infallible! You have no reason to worry.”
So let us not worry either.
Delicate and gentle hands rock our cradle, and soothing words lull us to sleep.
Let us continue our slumber in peace.
George K. Tzanakis
Akrotiri, Chania, November 8,
2026
NOTES
1. Address
delivered by Patriarch Bartholomew in response to his welcome at the Synodal
Headquarters of the Bulgarian Patriarchate on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
2. Justin
Popović, The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism. Orthodoxos Kypseli
Publications, Thessaloniki, 1974.
3. St.
Justin (Popović) of Ćelije, Dogmatics. Holy and Great Monastery of
Vatopedi, Mount Athos, 2019. Second edition.
4. https://grandlodge.gr/tektones/meletios-v-metaxakis/
5. Part I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fOTANiQ6eo
Part II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUobtvbojko&t=6388s
Greek source:
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