The hope that the division that has arisen in the Orthodox Church will be overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit, was expressed by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk after his meeting with Archbishop Elpidophoros of New York yesterday.
In an interview with news agency ria.ru, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk said that “we are praying for the unity of the Orthodox Church and hope that the division that has arisen will be overcome.”
How can this be achieved when the Patriarchate of Moscow has ceased communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and threatens to do the same with the Church of Greece after the recognition of the Ukrainian Autocephaly?
Metropolitan Hilarion shifts the solution of the matter to the Holy Spirit, saying that “I would answer in the words of the Savior that what is impossible for men is possible for God. The Holy Spirit has repeatedly instructed its servants in the history of the Church to make the right decisions.”
Concerning the Archbishop of America, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk spoke about the first time he met Archbishop Elpidophoros, twenty-five years ago, when the current Archbishop was still a deacon. Since then, says Metropolitan Hilarion, “there have been many happy and sad events in our relationships and in the relationships between our Churches.”