The fact that Moscow considers Lithuania part of its ecclesiastical territory does not mean that Lithuanians recognise such dependence or its canonical interpretations.

This opinion was expressed by religious affairs expert and former Lithuanian member of the European Parliament Arunas Degutis in an interview with LRT.

According to him, canon law in Lithuania does not take precedence over Lithuanian legislation.

“The fact that Moscow considers Lithuania its ecclesiastical territory does not mean that we are comfortable with such dependence or its canonical interpretations, or that we automatically recognise them.

“I would like to remind the Kremlin’s ‘friends’ that in 1990 we declared ourselves independent, and in 1991 the international community recognised us as independent from all other international actors. Therefore, we have the right to choose and decide independently whether we can recognise traditional Orthodox churches and their jurisdiction, as long as the actions of the metropolitanates, whether Moscow or Constantinople, comply with international law,” the expert stated.

He stressed that the Moscow Church had created its own version of Orthodoxy, “Russian Orthodoxy”, and, with massive support from the Kremlin, had begun demonstrating a desire to dominate or even usurp the rights of other Eastern Christian Orthodox churches.

“It seems they have forgotten that they themselves received a tomos from the Bishop of Constantinople, who among the Eastern churches is recognised as first among equals,” Degutis stated.

According to him, the Moscow Patriarchate began dictating its own rules only because it receives funding from the authorities.

“Now they have become more brazen and started questioning an order that existed for a millennium simply because they receive enormous sums from the Russian authorities, and along with that, an assignment to implement their imperial will, namely to split the entire Christian world. It seems that soon they will begin claiming that Jesus himself was Russian.

“Since Russia is incapable of building anything itself, for centuries it has relied on its old method of destroying and weakening its neighbours, thereby creating for the world the illusion of its own superiority. ‘We will force others to love us’, ‘if they fear us, that means they respect us’ — these quotations they use speak for themselves. There is another one recently heard in Ukraine: ‘Who gave you permission to live so well’. In this way, superiority is demonstrated through violence, coercion, and lies,” Arunas Degutis emphasised.