A senior Russian Orthodox Church official has claimed Britain’s late Prince Philip as a fellow Orthodox believer in its condolence messages to Queen Elizabeth II.
Metropolitan Hilarion, the Church’s “foreign minister” and unofficial second to Patriarch Kirill, told RIA Novosti news agency that the late prince, who was born in Corfu as the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, had said that to him a decade ago.
“When he received me on May 25, 2011 in his apartments at Buckingham Palace, he told me verbatim: "I have become Anglican, but have remained Orthodox,” said Hilarion, who speaks excellent English.
He stressed that Prince Philip was baptised in a Greek Orthodox church.
“We talked altogether for almost an hour. He was keenly interested in the rebirth of the Church in Russia and in other countries under the canonical responsibility of the Russian Orthodox Church,” Hilarion said.
“He asked me about Orthodox monasteries, parishes, seminaries. He spoke to me very warmly about his visits to Mount Athos. He also told me about his Orthodox roots and his kinship with the Russian imperial family.
“In memory of this meeting, I gave him an icon of Saint Elizabeth of Russia, of which he was the great-nephew.”
Patriarch Kirill was less explicit in his condolence message.
“As a representative of the Greek line of the Oldenburg dynasty, His Royal Highness had warm feelings for Orthodox culture and traditions and was one of the honorary trustees of the Friends of Mount Athos public organization,” he wrote.
“Prince Philip was keenly interested in the history and culture of Russia, which he visited many times.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual head of Orthodox churches worldwide, struck a notably different tone in his condolence message to the Queen.
“We were very fortunate to collaborate with the Prince during his presidency of WWF, during which we organized three symposia in Istanbul, Crete and London,” wrote the Ecumenical Patriarch known for his ecological concerns.
“We remember and honour a determined and dedicated man, and a staunch defender of the preservation of the environment.”
Bartholomew, who has no authority over the other autonomous churches in world Orthodoxy, and Kirill, at the head of by far the biggest Orthodox church, have frequently clashed over issues of leadership in the faith.
The Russian Orthodox Church has kept close ties to the Russian state while Bartholomew, as a Turkish citizen and head of the tiny Orthodox Church of Turkey, simply keeps correct relations with officials in Ankara.
15 April 2021, The Tablet
Russian church claims Prince Philip for Orthodoxy
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