Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk made offensive statements against the Autocephalous Church of Greece. Metropolitan Hilarion stated in an interview on the channel “Russia 24” that “The Church of Greece is not completely autocephalous like the Russian Church because it is strongly dependant on the Patriarch of Constantinople.”
He also spoke about the reasons why the Church of Greece is not fully autocephalous and lectured on modern history; “Christianity was the religion of the Greeks since the 1st century, but Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Turks for many centuries. Greece was liberated from the Turkish yoke thanks to Russia and to the weapons it got from Russia in the 19th century.”
He added, “The Greek government granted autocephaly to the Church of Greece since the Patriarch of Constantinople was on the territory of the Ottoman Empire and was considered an ally of the Sultan.”
“If you look at the map, Thessaloniki and other northern regions at the border with Turkey remained under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The bishops of these countries are part of the Church of Greece, but they commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople as they perform the Divine Liturgy. Finally, he said, “In other words, almost half of the Metropolises of the Church of Greece are Dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.”