On March 31, a highly intriguing post appeared in the press office section of the official website of the SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service) under a headline worthy of any tabloid with no self-respect: BARTHOLOMEW IS LOST IN HIS ARROGANCE.
The main protagonist of the post was Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, and the central event was the election of the new head of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
This episode of The Era of Blurred Landmarks is dedicated to everyone who has been desperately asking in the comments under our recent videos about the election of the new Patriarch: what does Russia have to do with this?!
My name is Marta Ardashelia, and you know what to do to support independent journalism. All the details are in the description.
On March 17, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II passed away in Tbilisi. He had led the GOC (Georgian Orthodox Church) for almost half a century and, according to all public opinion polls of recent decades, was an undisputed authority for the entire country, with the church under his leadership being the most influential institution. Following his death and the mourning into which the country was plunged, the main question is who will ascend the patriarchal throne. Against the backdrop of the processes taking place within the GOC, observers note a confrontation between two factions: one sympathizes with Russia, while the other is known as the “reformers” and sees the GOC’s place in the West.
While Georgian society is left guessing how the struggle for the throne in the GOC will end, the SVR’s statement came like a bolt from the blue. Russian intelligence is quick to report that Patriarch Bartholomew, also known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, wishes to subject the Georgian Orthodox Church to his influence. To this end, he is promoting two candidates: Metropolitan Abraham (Garmeliya) of Western Europe and Metropolitan Grigol (Berbichashvili) of Poti and Khobi.
The text of the statement is full of various epithets and reads more like fiction than an intelligence report. The SVR, it seems, decided not to reinvent the wheel, but to go straight on the attack!
Here is an excerpt that sounds particularly cynical:
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople continues to persistently pursue a treacherous line toward splitting global Orthodoxy, guided by the principle of “divide and conquer.”
And also:
In church circles, it is noted that the lust for power has become a constant companion of the Constantinople schismatic. Through his actions, Bartholomew once again replaces the “primacy of honor” with the “primacy of power,” interfering in the internal affairs of yet another—and, let us note, one of the oldest—the Georgian Orthodox Church. It is obvious that he, as in the cases of Ukraine, Serbia, and the Baltic states, has forgotten the second canon of the Second Ecumenical Council: “Diocesan bishops are not to intrude upon churches beyond their borders…”
Incidentally, the GOC denied the reports of Russian intelligence, stating that interference by another local church is unthinkable and completely impossible. Nevertheless, everyone found it remarkable that on the day after the statement, at the invitation of the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), a meeting of the Holy Synod was convened at the Patriarchate of Georgia.
Of course, the struggle and intrigue surrounding the GOC will continue for several more months. We will monitor who wins in this confrontation. But my personal request to a certain part of our dear audience is to no longer ask the question: what does Russia have to do with this?
