The Ecumenical Patriarchate has responded to recent accusations from Russian services, which labeled Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as using “church jargon” and described him as “the devil in the flesh” and “the antichrist,” allegedly opposing Moscow’s interests.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service accused Patriarch Bartholomew of “schismatic activity in the Orthodox church space” and released a statement on January 12, labeling him as “the antichrist in a cassock” and “the devil in the flesh.” They claimed he is attempting to undermine Russian Orthodoxy in the Baltic states by attracting Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian Orthodox Churches away from the Moscow Patriarchate. Russian services alleged that British special services are supporting these efforts to foment Russophobic sentiments. They also accused Bartholomew of planning to grant autocephaly to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church to challenge the Serbian Orthodox Church (Source: Press Bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, 12.01.2026).
In response, the Ecumenical Patriarchate expressed regret over the Russian state’s attacks on Patriarch Bartholomew, linking these to its involvement in the Ukrainian church situation and granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Patriarchate, noting its status as the mother church for Russia, connected the heightened tensions to the historic 2018 decision to grant Ukraine autocephaly.
The statement highlighted the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s choice to not engage in direct confrontation, maintaining a position of silence amidst numerous insults from Moscow’s church and political spheres since 2018. The Patriarchate remains undeterred by what it identifies as propaganda, emphasizing that such tactics will not deter its ministry and mission.
In Bulgaria, certain political and church circles work towards discrediting the Ecumenical Patriarch in favor of Moscow, especially after the visit of Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil and metropolitans to Fener, where they celebrated with Patriarch Bartholomew. The visit included naming the primate of the autocephalous OCU, Metropolitan of Kiev Epiphanius, not recognized by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
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