Concerning the resurrection of the Historic Pentarchy

The patriarchate of Constantinople is still seeking the complete domination of the Orthodox Church. It's current stressing of the Historic Pentarchy is just one more example. Since the Ecumenical Patriarchate has all but made the Patriarchates of Alexandria and Jerusalem as well as the Archbishopric of Cyprus subservient and Autonomous Churches, rather than the Autocephalous Churches that they were in times past. This makes the Pentarchy in fact a oligarchy ruled by two Churches both struggling under the Turkish yoke.

Since a Church that is under the dominatiion of a Moslem country has to consider certain factors if it is to survive, and until the end of the subservience of the thrones of Jerusalem and Alexandria to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, it is imperative that the pan-Orthodox council or at least some historically justifiable format that includes the Slavic Churches (which by the way contain the bulk of the Orthodox faithful of the world) must be followed.

The Truth is that a Pentarchy that speaks for the whole of the Christian faith cannot be restored unless and until the See of Rome repents and returns to the fullness of the Orthodox Faith. Then, with a place at the table for Slavic Orthodoxy, which did not come into being until after the apostasy of the West and the fall of Constantinople, and if Autocephaly is returned to Alexandria and Jerusalem, Historical Pentarchcracy could be a viable option.

Metropolitan Symeon of Denver