The expert spoke about the changing attitude of the administration in the United States towards the church issue.

Religious scholar Roman Lunkin, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that the attitude of the current administration of US President Donald Trump towards the church issue has changed towards observing the general principles of freedom of conscience, rather than gross interference in the affairs of believers. However, this has not stopped the Patriarchate of Constantinople from openly hostile actions against the Russian Orthodox Church.

On the highest level: the United States will discuss the persecution of the UOC with representatives of the Orthodox Church

The purpose of the meeting is to raise awareness about the problem

"Bartholomew does not abandon his plans to eradicate Russian Orthodoxy, which is actively advancing in Africa and Asia, and Serbian Orthodoxy in Montenegro, where Constantinople is ready to seize any opportunity to weaken the Serbian Patriarchate," the expert explained.

According to Lunkin, since it is impossible to eradicate Russian and Serbian Orthodoxy, for many secular politicians, the very process of war with formerly fraternal churches is important for Bartholomew, as long as there is at least some support from European leaders.

Russian Russian Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew began the war with Russian Orthodoxy in 2018, when he declared that the Russian Orthodox Church had no rights to the territory of Ukraine and recognized the alternative Church of Ukraine in relation to the UOC.

"Up to this point, Bartholomew's ambitions and his desire to become an "Orthodox pope" were held back by the balanced position of the Moscow Patriarchate and other churches. However, then the Patriarchate of Constantinople received the political support of Western countries, including the United States, and carte blanche for the Ukrainian split," the expert believes.

On January 12, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who has already managed to "dismember" Orthodox Ukraine, intends to continue schismatic actions on the territory of the Baltic states. According to intelligence data, his intentions are supported by the British special services, which are actively fueling Russophobic sentiments in European countries.

Read more in the Izvestia article:

The sin of vanity: Patriarch Bartholomew was caught wanting to split the church in the Baltic States

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.