Met. Seraphim replies to Phanar hierarch who called the pope his patriarch
Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus noted that "even the most fanatical Uniate will envy the reverences of Metropolitan Polycarp to the heresiarch ‘Pope’ Francis.”
Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus of the Greek Orthodox Church criticized the words of Metropolitan of Italy and Exarch of Southern Europe Polycarp, who called Pope Francis his patriarch, according to the Greek website Romfea.
Metropolitan Seraphim wrote an open letter to Metropolitan Polycarp, in which he noted that he was shocked by his statements: “We could not discern whether these words belonged to an Orthodox bishop or an adept of the papacy!”.
According to Metropolitan Seraphim, “even the most fanatical Uniate (a papist in Orthodox garments) will envy Metropolitan Polycarp's unacceptable compliments to the unrepentant heresiarch ‘Pope’ Francis.”
Commenting on the words of Metropolitan Polycarp that his meeting with the Pope went very well and cordially, Metropolitan Seraphim wrote that "the ‘cordiality’ of his meeting with the heresiarch does not surprise us much, because our ‘own’ unbridled adherents of the ‘Union of Churches’ literally celebrate every meeting with the pope."
“We are also not surprised that Polycarp feels himself as "the son of his beloved father” towards the pope. To consider a heretic and usurper of the patriarchal throne of Rome or anyone else as his father is Polycarp's problem. However, we are surprised that Polycarp is called the bishop of the Orthodox Church, while calling the unrepentant heresiarch his patriarch,” emphasized Metropolitan Seraphim.
The hierarch of the Church of Greece wonders, since when did Pope Francis become the “Ecumenical Patriarch”? “Did the ‘Unification of the Churches’ take place and was his Italian diocese taken under the ‘protection’ of ancient Rome, which is hidden from us? Did he (Metropolitan Polycarp – Ed.) join the Uniates, become a papal priest and simply wears Orthodox vestments?” asks Metropolitan Seraphim.
Metropolitan Seraphim, commenting on the words of Metropolitan Polycarp, who wished that God grant the Pope many years of life to serve for the good of the Ecumenical Church, recalled that the Pope is an "unrepentant heretic", while the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church is accused of thousands of sexual crimes and atrocities against to the Orthodox, in particular, about "880,000 Orthodox Serbs were killed by the Ustasha hordes at the instigation of the Vatican, Pope John Paul II and Zagreb Cardinal Aloiziy Stepinac, convicted by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity."
In addition, Metropolitan Seraphim asks the question of how Metropolitan Polycarp knows that “the path of the Orthodox and Catholics to complete unity is almost the finish line”: “Does he know anything that is hidden from believers? Did he not ‘give away’ a ‘secret’, which will astonish us when it becomes visible through the ‘union of churches’? How substantiated are the rumors about the upcoming ‘union’?”
In this regard, Metropolitan Seraphim called on Metropolitan Polycarp "with great humility and love" to publicly ask for forgiveness for his statements, "in order to appease the offended Orthodox people" and, most importantly, God. Besides, he recalled that "the acknowledgment of one’s mistake, one’s repentance is not an act of cowardice, but the main Christian virtue and doughtiness!"
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Metropolitan Polycarp, the journey to complete unity of Catholics and Orthodox is almost at the finish line.
