Weekly News

The Ecumenical Patriarchate lost one of its senior hierarchs when Metropolitan Theoleptos of Iconium died suddenly in Constantinople on 18 June, aged 69; Patriarch Bartholomew led a Trisagion the next day, with the funeral set for 23 June. In Brussels, regarding the proposal to sanction Patriarch Kirill, Hungary dropped its veto, but Bulgaria emerged as the new obstacle, its leaders invoking solidarity between two sister Orthodox Churches. And President Trump’s bid to enlist Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem as a Russia–Ukraine mediator sowed confusion, with Kyiv flatly rejecting a primate it sees as close to Moscow. Elsewhere: a busy Romanian week of ordinations and communist-era commemorations, Serbian honours for Hilandar, the deepening Armenian church–state crisis, and signs of convert-driven growth reported by the Orthodox bishops of Canada.

This week two long-running church–state confrontations reached decisive turning points within twenty-four hours of each other. In Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract won the 7 June election (49.81%, 61 of 105 seats), and the renewed mandate immediately reopened his drive to remove Catholicos Karekin II — who, on 11 June, refused to step down and appealed for national unity, even as ten dissident bishops back the government’s “reform.” In Estonia, the Supreme Court (8 June, 17 justices, six dissenting) upheld the law compelling the former Moscow-linked Orthodox Church to cut its ties to Russia within six months. Meanwhile, Patriarch Bartholomew marked the 35th anniversary of his election with celebrations on Imbros attended by Romanian Patriarch Daniel, after a visit to Lithuania; Cyprus enthroned a new Metropolitan of Paphos; and Georgia’s new Patriarch Shio III baptised over 600 children in Tbilisi.

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), Moscow’s former foreign-relations chief, was despatched to two remote parishes in the Brazilian interior days after Czech police confirmed that the “white substance” found in his car was cocaine — an accusation the metropolitan denounced as a set-up, denying any involvement with drugs. Elsewhere, two church–state reckonings loomed at the window’s edge: Estonia’s Supreme Court was to rule on 8 June on the law severing ties of its Orthodox Church with Moscow, and Armenia’s 7 June elections turned on the governing party’s pledge to remove Catholicos Karekin II. Strasbourg’s condemnation of Turkey over Ecumenical Patriarchate clergy reverberated on; Romania’s Synod added new feasts and accepted a contested Moldovan resignation; and in Asia the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared a Romanian priest persona non grata, exposing the fault lines of overlapping jurisdiction.

This week the Orthodox world moved between solemnity and strain. At the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew turned toward Pentecost and a fresh slate of bishops, while the Church of Cyprus closed a year of turmoil by electing a new Metropolitan of Paphos. Two clocks, meanwhile, began counting down to early June: Estonia’s Supreme Court set 8 June to rule on a law that would force its Orthodox Church to break with Moscow, and Armenia’s government openly campaigned to unseat Catholicos Karekin II before the 7 June vote. From Lebanon to Madagascar, from a Romanian cathedral in Madrid to a canonical clash in Hong Kong, the same question kept surfacing — who has the authority to minister, and where. Plus: Bulgaria’s €62.5 million for rural churches, and Russia’s deepening footprint in Africa.

The Coptic Holy Synod voted on 22 May to resume its theological dialogue with Rome, suspended since 2024 over same-sex blessings — a breakthrough enabled by a phone call between Pope Tawadros II and Pope Leo XIV. The same Synod canonised two figures and approved a diaspora strategy through 2050. In Belgrade, the Serbian Bishops’ Assembly took the rare step of removing Metropolitan Justin from the Diocese of Žiča over financial governance concerns, while also canonising the 19th-century nun Jefimija of Devič and advancing plans for a Serbian Orthodox university. At the Phanar, Anglican and Orthodox delegations prepared the next phase of their theological dialogue, and Catholicos Aram I met Pope Leo XIV in Rome, calling for a common Easter date and a Third Vatican Council. Meanwhile, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria travelled to Zambia for a six-day pastoral visit, consecrating a new church in the historically significant Zambezi region, even as the Russian Exarchate of Africa celebrated its first liturgy in Angola. A Macedonian state-church delegation visited Rome for the feast of Ss Cyril and Methodius, and in Armenia, church–state friction intensifies ahead of the 7 June elections, with the security services monitoring church activities for Russian influence.