The Phanar in Moscow’s Crosshairs: Beneath the Hostility, a Project of Domination

By Fr. Panagiotis Kapodistrias, Archpriest of the Ecumenical Throne

The confrontation between Russia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate is neither a passing episode nor a reality that can be adequately interpreted through theological disagreements alone. At its core lies a deep-seated ideological and geopolitical conflict, forged over centuries and reaching its culmination in recent years. Central to this tension is the Russian doctrine of the “Third Rome.” The Russian Church—together with the Russian state—regards Moscow as the natural heir of Constantinople and the supreme spiritual guide of the Orthodox world. This historically untenable and conceptually fragile claim leaves no space for the recognition of Constantinople as the canonical and spiritual center of Orthodoxy.

Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill actively reinforce this mindset in a manner that transcends the sphere of religion and enters fully into that of state ideology. The Russian Church operates as an ideological extension of state power, conferring metaphysical legitimacy upon political and military actions. Patriarch Bartholomew, through both his teaching and his stance, stands in direct opposition to this paradigm. He affirms the spiritual autonomy of the Church, rejects its instrumentalization by the state, and consistently defends synodality and canonical order.

The granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church in 2018 constituted the decisive rupture. This act restored the right of a people to ecclesiastical self-governance while simultaneously striking at Moscow’s strategic interests, given that Russia had long regarded Ukraine as its own “ecclesiastical territory.” The move was perceived as a threat of both spiritual and geopolitical magnitude. Tensions escalated with the Russian Church’s severance of communion with the Phanar, accompanied by an aggressive propaganda campaign aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Through his unambiguous stance regarding the war in Ukraine, his unwavering advocacy of peace, and his consistent commitment to the unity of Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomew has emerged as a disruptive presence within the Russian narrative. His international stature, his engagement with other Christian traditions, and his fidelity to canonical order reinforce his authority on the global stage and provoke resistance. Russia has therefore sought systematically to portray him as an “instrument of the West,” in an effort to diminish his influence within the Orthodox world.

The hostility directed toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate does not stem from personal animosities, but from a calculated strategy of erosion. Through this strategy, a resourceful Russia seeks to impose its own hegemony within Orthodoxy, employing every available means— theological, propagandistic, and geopolitical. The Phanar, by virtue of its historical continuity, its uninterrupted spiritual witness, and its independence, constitutes a fundamental obstacle to this aspiration.

This antagonism unfolds under profoundly unequal conditions. On one side stand power and coercive force; on the other, spiritual authority. What provokes Russian resentment is precisely the resilience and enduring influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, even in the absence of state mechanisms. And so long as this influence endures, the Phanar will remain a source of unease for all who perceive the Church as a tool of political domination.