The Russian Orthodox Church after a breakdown of relations with Constantinople has listed forbidden temples forbidden for Orthodox churches

In the Russian Orthodox Church, believers were reminded of the importance of compliancewith the decision of the Holy Synod of the complete rupture of the Eucharistic communication with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. According to him, now parishioners and clergy are forbidden to pray in all the temples of Patriarchate.

“For the refusal to follow such prohibitions for the clergy, punishment (Prejection) is provided for, and for the laity - repentance of confession in the disobedience of the Church,” the secretary of the department of external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Igor Yakimchuk told Interfax .

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He specified exactly where in popular tourist directions there are temples of the Church of the Constantinople. Among the churches on which the ban is distributed, the priest listed: in Turkey - all the current temples of Istanbul, the only active temple in Antalya, in Greece are temples in Crete and on the islands of Dodecansa, located in the southeastern part of the Aegean Sea, the largest of which is Rhodes.

The ban will be extended to the churches of Athos. “Of course, there is also Athos, who is also in the jurisdiction of Constantinople, but do not go there,” Yakimchuk said.

The fact that the breakdown of the Eucharistic communication of the Moscow Patriarchate with Constantinople means a ban on believers of Orthodox Russians, including praying in churches on Mount Athos in Greece, the day before, the press secretary of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill Alexander Volkov, whose words are cited by TASS.

Volkov noted that Athos is the canonical territory of Constantinople "with all the ensuing consequences." Before the relations of the two churches change, the ROC believers will not be able to take communion or participate in worship in the temples of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he explained.

Article 6 of the Regulation on the Church Court of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) indicates that "the canonical transformation (punishment) should encourage a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, which committed a church offense, to repentance and correction," notes RBC . At the same time, the punishment cannot be imposed “without sufficient evidence establishing the guilt of the given person” in accordance with the 28th rule of the Carthaginian Cathedral (held in 419).

Among the punishments for the clergy are provided: dismissal, temporary or lifelong prohibition in the clergy, eruption from the dignity and excommunication.

Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, deputy chairman of the department of external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, admitted in an interview with TASS that the termination of communication and serving with the clergy of the Constantinople Church would complicate the relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with Afon, "but there is no need to choose."

“In the first place for us is solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, who are worried about truly difficult times today, and the Constantinople Church, unfortunately, does a lot to aggravate the severity of their position and make an even greater split,” he said.

He noted that the decision of the Holy Synod does not deprive the Orthodox possibility of worshiping the shrines, wherever they are. Balashov cited as an example the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Italian city of Bari - the general Christian shrine, which is under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church.

The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church announced on the eve of the breakdown of relations with Constantinople in response to measures to restore the Kyiv metropolis as part of its canonical territory and approve of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate of Autocephalus.

The canonical territory of Constantinople - Türkiye and Greece. There are six dioceses, ten monasteries and 30 spiritual schools in Turkey, the ROC website says . The report notes that Mount Athos "has virtually complete administrative independence from the Constantinople throne and strictly stores its internal independence."

The Metropolis and Diocese subordinate to Constantinople are available in Europe, South and Central America, the USA, Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore.

That the breakdown of relations with Constantinople means in practice the solution of the ROC CINOD refers to all members of the Moscow Patriarchate both in Russia, Ukraine, in Belarus, and in other countries. At the same time, the document is significant for Ukraine, where about 4 thousand parishes of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church accounts for 9 thousand parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The priest of the Kharkov-Poltava diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalous Church (updated) Yakov Krotov clarifies that the laity now cannot be baptized and world-missing, confess and take communion, accept the sacrament of co-sorion among priests and bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. At the same time, punishment for this is not provided for laity.

Priests and bishops are prohibited the same as the laity, as well as the commission of the liturgy along with priests and bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Punishment has already been mentioned for them - this is a prohibition in ministry or dismissal. Members of the Moscow Patriarchate can come to Athos and enter the temples of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but they cannot pray there, confess and take communion.

At the same time, you can pray during the liturgy in the churches of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Krotov cited the example of Patriarch Kirill, who during Catholic worship prayed more than once, "in itself", and not with the Catholics - for their appeal to Orthodoxy.

“In general, to those who are afraid to break the ban, it is better to check every time what jurisdiction is one or another temple,” the priest advises. So, Greece has its own autocephalous Elladsk Orthodox Church with the status of Metropolis, which means that the ban does not apply to Greek temples, Radio Freedom reports. The decision of the Synod also does not say anything about the ban on communion, confess, to catched bishops, priests and laity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“Now everyone is obliged to carefully check who the temple is submitted to, where a person goes. Whether they will check in practice - another question. By canons, you can’t get divorced, and you can’t take communion of those who live without a wedding, it is impossible, a civil marriage from the point of view of strict zealnators of the canons is just fornication. But no one will do it, because the temples are simply dinished,” concluded Krotov.