We wish to express our profound concern regarding the Pope of Rome’s visit to Constantinople and his reception with high hierarchical honors. The Ecumenical Patriarch prayed with the heretical Pope and even commemorated him in the litany as the lawful Bishop of Rome, an act that constitutes a total disregard for the Holy Canons. They went so far as to recite the Orthodox Creed together.

This entire spectacle resembles a mere charade. Are we honestly expected to believe that the Pope has truly embraced the Orthodox Creed and renounced the heretical “and from the Son” (Filioque) addition? To clarify the theological gravity: the Orthodox Church confesses that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally and solely from the Father. We do not accept the claim of procession from the Son; we maintain that such a claim is a dogmatic error and constitutes blasphemy and a debasement of the Holy Spirit.

Observe the deception at play: the Pope appears to have shifted his position, using guile to convince the Orthodox that we share a common faith. He states, “Yes, I also say the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father,” leading naive believers to conclude that he has abandoned his error. In reality, the official Roman dogma remains unchanged: “I may publicly state that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, but I will not publicly renounce my inner conviction that He also proceeds from the Son.” This is a cunning attempt by a heretic to mislead the faithful—he professes our words aloud while concealing the beliefs he truly holds, which remain a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Regrettably, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew becomes complicit in this duplicity by allowing the Pope to engage in such performative acts. It is deeply saddening to see the Ecumenical Patriarch acting against the interests of the Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has been known for centuries as the defender of Orthodoxy, led by great saints such as St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom, St. Tarasios, St. Methodios, St. Photius the Great, and the Hesychast Patriarchs Philotheos and Kallistos. They were the defenders of the Faith, yet today we see the opposite actions from their successors.

Since the 1920s, following the anti-Orthodox revolution in Russia, the global order has been in upheaval. The overthrow of the monarchy in Russia by anti-Christian forces constituted a global catastrophe. Prior to this, the Ecumenical Patriarchate acted as the protector of the Orthodox faith, bolstered by the anointed Tsars of Russia. It is worth noting that it was only after the Bolshevik Revolution that the Patriarchate of Constantinople and several other local churches adopted the incorrect New Calendar. Following this anti-Christian revolution, the Ecumenical Patriarchate fell under the influence of British, American, and Masonic interests. Today, bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate hold American passports and serve American political agendas, a prime example of which is the creation of the uncanonical, schismatic so-called “church” in Ukraine.

It is well known that the infamous Council of Crete in 2016, organized by Constantinople, was secured by American intelligence services. The fact remains that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is one of the primary drivers of ecumenism worldwide. Ecumenism is a foundational strategy of anti-Christian forces. The first stage towards the reign of the Antichrist is ecumenism—the unification of all pseudo-Christian heresies and the recruitment of the Orthodox into this lawlessness. The second stage is the evolution of ecumenism into “Pan-ecumenism,” which entails unification with non-Christian religions such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and others. Their ultimate goal is a syncretic global religion, which paves the way for the Antichrist. Dark, hidden forces seek total religious and political unification. Have they not already unified Europe, which they have been trying to do for a long time? In the religious sphere, this anti-Christian unification is known as ecumenism. Ecumenism and Pan-ecumenism represent the religion of the Antichrist, and what we witnessed in Constantinople is a clear manifestation of it. We must be extremely vigilant and follow only those Fathers who share, preach, and defend the true teachings of the Orthodox Church—the Holy Fathers who defended Orthodoxy even unto death.

Hieromonk Isaac
St. Basil the Great Monastery,
Eparchy of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, Patriarchate of Georgia
December 5, 2025
Georgia.