The following statement appeared on November 19, 2025 on the website of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate under the title Archons Question White House Meeting with Russian Orthodox Clergy Who Are Lobbyists for Putin. (See also What Is an Archon?) The Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ), characterized previously by Orthodoxy in Dialogue as “little more than one of the two arms of the Moscow Patriarchate’s disinformation apparatus,” has responded with a series of condemnations of the Archons’ statement by various authors. (See, for example, Serbian Dean Denounces Archons’ Statement on Pan-Orthodox Advocacy for UOC. The UOC, or Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is the Kremlin’s ecclesiastical operation in Ukraine, as distinguished from the OCU, or Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in January 2019.)
Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (AEP) note with dismay and regret that Russian Orthodox clergy who are boosters of Vladimir Putin’s unjust, immoral and monstrous war against Ukraine are meeting this week with White House officials and Congressional leaders in Washington.
The Hill reported Monday that “lobbyists and clergy with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been a staunch backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, are campaigning this week on Capitol Hill and meeting with the Trump administration.” The AEP condemns this deceptive attempt to legitimize Russia’s use of the Orthodox Church as an arm of its aggressive foreign policy.
The meeting seeks to solicit an American blessing upon its misleading tactics, which result in the persecution of the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. The AEP expresses our heartfelt gratitude to U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for calling attention to the fact that the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is facing “increasing pressure and persecution in Ukraine.”
Rep. Wilson has declared: “The Russian Orthodox Church is not a separate religious organization but an extension of the Russian state. Evangelizing is illegal in Russia and Christians are targeted and killed in Ukraine. Members should not entertain this intelligence operation.”
We are grateful that Rep. Wilson is calling attention to this deplorable situation, to which His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has called the world’s attention for years.
When the Ecumenical Patriarch granted autocephaly (independence) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on January 6, 2019, a splinter group calling itself the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remained aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate. That splinter group, an arm of the Moscow Patriarchate, is now targeting and killing members of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine, targeting civilians in order to sow terror among the population and make them too frightened to join the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Rep. Wilson rightly notes that the Russian Orthodox Church, including the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) has been operating as an extension of the Russian state, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has criticized it for doing so on numerous occasions.
We urge the Trump administration to cancel this meeting with what are essentially Russian state agents, and to stand in solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian people and the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Yours in the service of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Grand Aktouarios
National Commander
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