Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem on Thursday. The diplomatic meeting took place on November 5 during the Jerusalem Patriarch’s official visit to Russia. Putin formally presented the prestigious Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation to Patriarch Theophilos during the event.
State media channels heavily publicized the formal ceremony inside the Kremlin complex to showcase strong bilateral religious ties.
Awarding the state honor to the Jerusalem Patriarch
The meeting occurred just hours after official briefings from Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. Peskov had previously informed journalists that the presidency would reveal any potential high-level religious meetings at the appropriate time.
The calculated presentation highlights Moscow’s ongoing efforts to maintain strong influence over historic holy sites across the Middle East.
Strengthening Church alliances across Orthodox jurisdictions
Earlier on Thursday, Patriarch Theophilos III held a comprehensive private meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to discuss ecclesiastical affairs. Kirill thoroughly briefed the visiting delegation on recent institutional developments within the daily life of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Patriarch of Jerusalem originally arrived in the Russian capital on Wednesday, November 4, to begin the tour. He accepted a formal personal invitation from Kirill to reinforce long-term spiritual cooperation between their respective ancient patriarchates.
The Greek-Russian Ecclesiastical rift and the Saint Spyridon controversy
The Church of Greece significantly strained its relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church in 2019 by recognizing the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), following the 2018 rupture between Moscow and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In retaliation, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow severed full communion with Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and removed him from the formal liturgical diptychs.
The subsequent 2022 invasion of Ukraine deepened this rift, as the Greek hierarchy firmly condemned the military aggression and criticized the leadership of the Russian Church for providing explicit theological justifications for the war.
A major ecclesiastical and political scandal subsequently erupted when Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu personally traveled to Russia to escort the sacred relics of Saint Spyridon for public veneration.
The high-profile pilgrimage triggered immediate international outrage and fierce protests from Ukrainian church representatives, who accused the Greek prelate of breaking the diplomatic isolation of Patriarch Kirill amidst ongoing Western sanctions.
Metropolitan Nektarios published a formal defense emphasizing that the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece had officially approved the journey in writing, arguing that the spiritual blessing of the saint transcends temporal geopolitics and international border disputes.
