In an interview published in the Athens Sunday weekly “To Vima”, the Metropolitan of France, His Eminence Emmanuel, detailed how the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was achieved, while also responding to charges by the Russian Orthodox Church against Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew I.
“The Ecumenical Patriarchate acted solely on the basis of the interests of the Orthodox faithful of the Ukraine; it did not act based on its own interests or due to political pressure. And, of course, it was not influenced by political antagonisms or geopolitical interests,” His Eminence Emmanuel explained, in an interview given to journalist George Gilson.