ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ
How would Bartholomew like it if the Moscow Patriarchate started creating “Exarchates” in Greece or elsewhere? We already know the answer, as Moscow established an Exarchate in Egypt and now has hundreds of parishes all over Africa, where before the “Ukraine Schism” there were none…
By Helleniscope’s Editorial Team
In yet another blow to Orthodox unity, the Patriarchate of Constantinople has moved to further entrench its presence in Lithuania by electing Archimandrite Panaret (Psaravatsis) as Bishop of Tamisos and head of its Lithuanian Exarchate. What began as the reception of clergy who had broken with the Lithuanian Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate has now evolved into a fully established parallel ecclesiastical structure with its own bishop, deepening an already contentious jurisdictional dispute.
The significance of the consecration extends far beyond Lithuania. This is another example of Constantinople creating overlapping church jurisdictions in territories that had long been recognized as belonging to another Local Orthodox Church. Rather than working toward reconciliation between opposing sides, establishing a separate hierarchy is seen as institutionalizing division and making future healing more difficult. Once rival bishops, clergy, and administrative structures are in place, temporary disputes can become lasting realities.
The development is also being viewed through the broader lens of the ongoing tensions that have shaken the Orthodox world since the Ukraine crisis. The Lithuanian exarchate reflects a wider trend in which ecclesiastical disagreements are increasingly resulting in parallel jurisdictions rather than conciliar solutions. The traditional Orthodox principle of one bishop presiding over one territory is, they argue, being steadily undermined by competing claims of authority.
As a result, many observers concerned about Orthodox unity see the consecration not as a routine episcopal appointment but as another chapter in the growing fragmentation of global Orthodoxy. Far from signaling a path toward reconciliation, the move is likely to reinforce existing divisions, adding another layer to a schism that continues to leave the Orthodox world fractured and struggling to restore the unity that once defined its witness.
May 28, 2026, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
This is bullshit! I visited Russian Orthodox Churches in Vilnius, Lithuania. Russians converted pagan Lithuanians to Christianity. I visited a church where two Russian Saints are in who were killed trying to convert pagan Lithuanian tribes! What treason from Constantinople! There are Russians living in Vilnius before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
What a mess. An Ecumenical council is needed to sort out this mess of jurisdiction, but who can be trusted to call it?
Constantinople has every right to re-establish an exarchate that was first established in 1317 as the Orthodox Metropolis of Lithuania. In 1347, three Orthodox Lithuanian nobles—Anthony, John, and Eustathius—were executed for their faith and later canonized as the Three Orthodox Martyrs of Vilnius. However, Lithuania would later become Roman Catholic in 1387.
After Lithuania was annexed by Tsarist Russia in 1795, Roman Catholicism was forcibly banned there in 1839, although it would later re-emerge after Lithuania reclaimed independence in 1918 following the Bolshevik revolution. That independence was short lived though as Joseph Stalin would annex Lithuania in 1940, and then again in 1944 after a German occupation was pushed out. Thousands of Lithuanians were deported to Siberia in order to break their national identity. Under Stalin, Roman Catholicism was not officially banned in Lithuania, but it was heavily suppressed, while the Moscow Patriarchate was supported there as a tool of the Soviet State.
Today, only about 4 percent of Lithuania identifies as Orthodox, whereas about 74 percent of Lithuania identifies as Roman Catholic. By far, most Orthodox Lithuanians identify as being Russians. It is only a tiny group of a few priests and parishes that refuse to be under the Moscow Patriarchate since the war in Ukraine. These Orthodox Lithuanians petitioned Patriarch Bartholomew to re-establish an exarchate.
Joseph – I really don’t have time to respond to your nonsense. I will let our readers do it.,,
Lithuania is also the Baltic country most under threat by the Russian Federation because of its proximity to the Russian enclave of Kalininigrad, sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. This is where the Russian Federation keeps it Baltic fleet.
Even though Lithuania is a full NATO country, the theory currently being espoused by Kremlin advisor Sergei Karaganov is that most NATO countries wouldn’t be willing to engage in a full war with the Russian Federation over Lithuania. In other words, the NATO alliance may be more bluff than reality when it comes to the Baltics.
And – following your logic – the Patriarchate has to act as an arm of “American Deep State” and “West European Bankster’s” policies and play its role… Joseph you casn try to sell this crap elsewhere but this audience is well educated and has been following these failed policies for a long time… Finally your positions sound very clearly as a very serious case of BUTT HURT… The western strategy to divide Russia into 3-4 states and STEAL its tremendous wealth has failed. For the first time in 1,100 years of Crusades, Colonialism and Imperialism the whole humanity is waking up against JUDEOCHRISTIAN exploitation and reacts appropriately… No more!! If you are a Christian – forget about Orthodox – you should publicly oppose stealing the people’s wealth (like France paying 5% for Niger’s uranium!!) and go against these policies. ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN OR NOT?
Joseph, you never ever fail to entertain us! Never!
Stalin supported Orthodoxy?
History according to Joseph Lipper…(a new feature on the comedy channel)
And by the way “every right” is not true, according to the Apostolic Canons, which stipulate that bishop A cannot meddle in bishop B’s jurisdiction…Lithuania has a bishop already.
But then again, NYC also has a bunch of bishops, so even Elpidophoros is “non-Canonical” in the face of that Apostolic Canon, isn’t he? I suppose Constantinople is just “spreading the non-Canonical plague” to yet another jurisdiction, right?