"The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at its meeting today decided to suspend the commemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople during divine services in the Russian Orthodox Church," Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, said.
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"We also decided to suspend joint performance of services with hierarchs of the Constantinople Patriarchate, to suspend our participation in all structures chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Constantinople Patriarchate," he said.
The Synod has also called on the heads of other Local Churches to initiate an all-Orthodox discussion of the church situation in Ukraine, the Synod said in a statement Friday.
"Realizing that what is happening poses danger to the entire world Orthodoxy, we are asking, at this difficult moment, local autocephalous churches for support, we call upon the primates of churches to understand the common responsibility for the fate of world Orthodoxy and initiate a fraternal all-Orthodox discussion of the church situation in Ukraine," the Synod said.
There are 15 Orthodox Churches in the world, the Russian one is the largest.
