Russian Orthodox Church

Russia's Orthodox Church said on Friday it would no longer participate in structures chaired by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, deepening a row in Orthodox Christianity over the Ukrainian Church's bid to break away from Moscow's orbit.

The Russian Orthodox Church on Sept. 14 cut "diplomatic ties" with Bartholomew I, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, accusing him of encroaching on its religious territory in Ukraine.    

The Russian Patriarchate has openly disputed the first-among-equals status of the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate after the latter's decision to grant independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Moscow.

The Russian Orthodox Church on Sept. 7 slammed its Istanbul-based rival for sending representatives to Ukraine and vowed to retaliate as the two churches are locked in negotiations over Ukraine's religious future.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has begun preparations to grant independence to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from Russia, it said Friday.

In a statement, the patriarchate named two representatives who will be dispatched to discuss the process of autocephaly of Kiev from Moscow.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios said on Friday that dialogue is the way to resolve problems after a reportedly fruitless meeting in Istanbul with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Patriarch Kirill of the Orthodox Church of Moscow visited Bartholomew I, the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church based in Istanbul, on Aug. 31 in an eleventh hour bid to prevent the Ukrainian church from being separated from Moscow.

Moldova is the most exposed country in Eastern Europe to Russian propaganda, owing to the dominance of Russian-language media, the Russian orientation of the main Church, poverty and lack of trust in the political class, according to a study called "Resistance to disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe".

Pope Francis is ready for dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all the eastern cyrilllic. This statement was made by the Pontiff during a meeting with Metropolitan Ilarion Volokamski and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church during a meeting with the head of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro has commemorated the centenary of the killing of the Russian imperial family at Ekaterinburg with numerous events held under the slogan "The Romanov Family - 100 years of Holiness".