Ecumenical Patriarch ‘Completes Process’ of Restoring Orthodox Church in Lithuania to Constantinople’s Jurisdiction, Furman Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 13 – During a brief visit to Lithuania earlier this month, Bartholemew, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, completed the process of restoring the Orthodox Church in Lithuania to his patriarchate’s jurisdiction, thus officially ending Moscow’s control of  Orthodoxy in that Baltic country, Lera Furman says.

            The Russian-Ukrainian religious affairs specialist who left Russia in 2022 after Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine says that the Ecumenical Patriarchate never recognized Russia’s claims there but could do little as long as the USSR existed (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/06/13/baltiiskii-pravoslavnyi-front).

            “Over the years,” she writes, “Constantinople has taken under its omophorion a number of clergy [there and elsewhere] who were ‘stripped of holy orders by the ROC MP for their anti-war stance, including a group of Lithuanian clergy.  (For background on these developments, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/03/constantinople-patriarch-moves-against.html and https://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2026/04/vilnius-stepping-up-pressure-on-russian.html.)

            “Three years ago,” she continues, “Bartholomew announced the establishment of his exarchate in Lithuania; its ranks included not only anti-war Lithuanian clergy but also priests Georgy Roy and Alexander Kukhta—who had fled Belarus—and later, the prominent theologian Deacon Andrei Kurayev, who had left Moscow.”

            On May 31, Bartholemew named Archimandrite Panaretos, who supervised the Slavic-Turkish Orthodox in Istanbul, as bishop of Tamassos and exarch of Lithuania and then presided over the bishop’s formal installation in Lithuania at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius on June 7.

            This action in Lithuania is echoing in Belarus and even Ukraine, Furman says. “Many Ukrainian and Belarusian refugees attended the service; and the Patriarch addressed them specifically, noting Vilnius’s hospitality and the Christian calling to remain faithful to the truth, even when such fidelity disrupts one’s accustomed way of life.”

            Denis Kuchinsky, an advisor to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tiskhanouskaya, attended the enthronement and “highlighted Belarus’ historical closeness of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.” That statement suggests that the Orthodox Church of Belarus to pursue independence from Moscow following the country’s liberation.”

            On Belarusian interest in pursuing such autocephaly more generally, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/07/moscow-patriarchate-losing-ground-in.html and the numerous sources cited therein.