EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): As our recent posts demonstrate, the number of incidents reflecting the growing conflict between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and those Orthodox Patriarchates and Churches that oppose its policies on Ukraine has continued to increase.

Helleniscope was among the first, more than a decade ago, to argue that this conflict had been anticipated and encouraged by Western geopolitical interests. We also noted that a similar scenario was outlined in Samuel Huntington’s well-known book The Clash of Civilizations, which examined how cultural and religious fault lines could become central to future international conflicts.

From this perspective, the revival of Russia’s Orthodox identity after seventy years of Communist rule represented a significant geopolitical development. Russia’s history, culture, and national identity have long been intertwined with Orthodoxy, which has profoundly influenced its civilization and produced some of its greatest literary figures, including Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Those who view Russia primarily through the lens of geopolitical competition have seen this religious and cultural resurgence as an obstacle rather than an asset. In this view, a Russia detached from its Orthodox foundations would be more vulnerable to external influence.

Critics further argue that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew departed from his traditional role as a unifying leader of world Orthodoxy by aligning himself with broader geopolitical agendas, thereby becoming, in their words, a “foreign policy pawn.”

These critics cite recent developments as evidence of this widening divide. Among them are: (1) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s scheduled receipt of the Athenagoras Human Rights Award in New York City on September 23; (2) the visit to Kyiv by the officially recognized Esphigmenou abbot, Fr. Bartholomew, in a gesture interpreted by critics as support for the Ukrainian government; and (3) continued resistance by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to Patriarch Bartholomew’s position, with the Churches of Georgia and Romania likewise maintaining reservations thus far.

AS OF 11 AM TODAY, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, THE COMMENTS ARE RE-ACTIVATED.

August 6, 2026, www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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Bulgarian clergy condemn archimandrite who concelebrated with OCU

The clergy of the Sofia Eparchy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have condemned the uncanonical actions and public slander of Archimandrite Nikanor (Mishkov), who concelebrated with Epifaniy Dumenko at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv, Romfea reports.

On July 30, 2026, the clergy of the Bulgarian capital gathered in Sofia under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Daniel. During the meeting, the priests presented a draft Declaration of Support for Patriarch Daniel in response to the systematic attacks launched by Archimandrite Nikanor, abbot of the Gigin Monastery, through the media and social networks.

The clergy stressed that their “long and patient silence could have been interpreted as indifference or tacit agreement with the accusations” that the abbot has been spreading daily in the public sphere.

On this topicBOC Patriarch: Like 11 other Churches, we do not recognize OCU and support UOC

Particular outrage was sparked by Archimandrite Nikanor’s statements of July 28, 2026, in which he described the Bulgarian Patriarchate as “a semblance of the Church” and “a lackey of Russian imperialism.” In response, the priests declared: “As clergy of this very Church, we do not feel like anyone’s lackeys, nor do we serve God in some ‘semblance of the Church.’ Rather, we are ministers within the Body of Christ.”

The authors of the declaration noted that such rhetoric revives the atmosphere of the schism of the 1990s, when “coarse and anti-church language allowed every kind of verbal abuse to be directed at the Patriarch.”

The archimandrite was accused not only of insulting the Church but also of serious breaches of ecclesiastical discipline, including concelebrating abroad with “uncanonical clergy” without the blessing of his ruling bishop. The declaration also states that Nikanor went so far as to call for a “church-and-people’s struggle” to establish what he described as a “true people’s church,” something the clergy denounced as a “demonic desire.”

“Turning public self-expression into a kind of ‘media asceticism’ has in practice replaced monastic silence and obedience with political propaganda and systematic provocation,” the clergy of the Sofia Eparchy said.

The priests called on the competent Church authorities to examine Nikanor’s case with the utmost seriousness, emphasizing that “ecclesiastical punishment is not an act of revenge, but a spiritual remedy and a necessary boundary that the Church is obliged to establish.”

Concluding their declaration, the clergy reminded the faithful of their duty to defend their Primate: “When your father, whom you love, is unjustly slandered, remaining silent is shameful. When the Church in which we hope to be saved is slandered, failing to speak out is a sin.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church suspended Archimandrite Nikanor from ministry after he concelebrated with the OCU.