German ROCOR Diocese responds to accusations by US congressman and archons
ROCOR noted that the statement of the archons "is astonishing only for the extent of its denial of reality".
On November 21, 2025, the German and Berlin Diocese of the ROCOR published a statement regarding the offensive statements by U.S. Congressman Wilson and the archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, reports UOJ in Germany.
The document notes that the accusations appeared immediately after the meeting of the First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Nikolai, with representatives of the U.S. government as part of a delegation of Orthodox Churches of America. As stated, the friendly exchange of views on religious freedom and peace in Ukraine took place in an atmosphere of openness and mutual understanding. However, the meeting coincided with the publication of an article that, without any evidence, questioned the independence of several Orthodox Churches in America.
ROCOR emphasized that In direct response to the aforementioned meeting, a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in North America, “Archon Grand Aktouarios” Anthony J. Limberakis MD, also took to social media, whose statements attempt to obscure the true situation in Ukraine.
"Facts are diametrically opposed, and perpetrators are conflated with victims. This renewed attempt to pursue the lobbying interests of the Patriarchate in the USA is astonishing only for the extent of its denial of reality."
The statement emphasizes that the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), under Metropolitan Onuphry, is portrayed as a "splinter group, an arm of the Moscow Patriarchate", targeting and killing, "The UOC is the largest in the country in terms of membership and, with a thousand-year history, is indisputably a more legitimate organization than the nationalist 'Orthodox Church in Ukraine' (OCU), established in 2018 at the behest of then-Ukrainian President Poroshenko."
The ROCOR diocese highlights that militaristic-nationalist groups, with the assistance of official bodies and the use of force, are systematically seizing churches from the UOC. Its members are persecuted, terrorized, and slandered, and its clergy are forcibly recruited and sent to the front.
"The high-ranking Mr. Limberakis invokes Patriarch Bartholomew, but even he asked Ukraine to cease its violence," the document notes. According to the authors of the statement, the archon is trying to mislead American supporters of Ukraine: In reality, the terror perpetrated by nationalistically blinded ideologues, schismatics without valid ordination, with the help of the state, is directed against innocent Christians, in disregard of international norms.
The statement indicates that the situation with the UOC has repeatedly raised concerns at the UN (the last time was in a press release on October 1, 2025). "Limberakis is indifferent to the fact that just this past November, both the Polish Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of the Czech and Slovak Lands protested against the completely illegal incursion into their territories by this "canonical church" propagated by Limberakis, even though the Tomos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate explicitly forbids its activities abroad," ROCOR emphasizes.
"The persecutor is portrayed as the persecuted. Ecclesiastical and spiritual realities are hopelessly politicized. This is the same old slanderous politics, the same methods we know from Soviet times, used to defame the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR)," the statement says. The document emphasizes that since 1920, ROCOR worldwide, primarily in Europe and the U.S., has followed its independent path, without currying favor with state powers.
"Hypocrisy exposes itself. Mr. A. Limberakis is merely discrediting the Ecumenical Patriarchate," the statement concludes.
The authors express regret over the impending radicalization and hardening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding the historical mistake it made by creating the OCU. "An overwhelming majority of Orthodox churches and their representatives worldwide have condemned Patriarch Bartholomew's fatal interference in Ukraine, despite political pressure, and refuse to recognize the OCU," ROCOR emphasized.
The document concludes with the words: "We pray for an end to the war in Ukraine and the internal persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."
Earlier, UOJ reported that an American ROCOR bishop demanded an apology from the congressman for slander.
