Eastern Europe Update:Ecumenical Patriarch Addresses Synaxis;Exarchs Appointed

On Monday,3 September 2018,speaking before the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul,Turkey,His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew elucidated the position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the issue of autocephaly (independence) for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.Here are some excerpts:
In times of greater or lesser historical challenge,our Patriarchate-faithful to its vocation and ministry-neither says nor does anything unrelated to the incarnate Word.Its mission is not comprised of imposing some new ecclesiological principles but preserving truths of faith,precious traditions and inspired patristic teachings established many centuries ago.*
As the First Throne of Orthodoxy,the Ecumenical Patriarchate exercises a prophetic ministry,extending the mystery of the Catholic Church in Christ Jesus throughout the world in each era.*
The Ecumenical Patriarchate bears the responsibility of settling matters in ecclesiastical and canonical order because it alone has the canonical privilege as well as the prayer and blessing of the Church and the Ecumenical Councils to carry out this supreme and exceptional duty as a nurturing Mother and birth-giver of Churches.If the Ecumenical Patriarchate denies its responsibility and removes itself from the Inter-Orthodox scene,then the Local Churches will proceed "as sheep without a shepherd" (Matt.9.36),expending their energy in ecclesiastical initiatives that conflate the humility of faith and the arrogance of power.*
In the matter of Ukraine,the Ecumenical Patriarchate has appointed two exarchs,or legates,announcing on 7 September 2018 that:
Within the framework of the preparations for the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,the Ecumenical Patriarchate has appointed as its exarchs in Kiev His Excellency Archbishop Daniel of Pamphlion from the United States,and His Grace Bishop Ilarion of Edmonton from Canada,both of whom are serving the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in their respective countries under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.*
Both exarchs were born in Ukraine.
Analysis:The Ecumenical Patriarchate indeed exercised the functions mentioned above in the twentieth century in Eastern Europe by,for example,granting a Tomos of autocephaly to both the Orthodox Church of Poland and the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.Now it serves a new century at a time of war in Eastern Europe instigated by the Putin regime in Russia,with the same leading ministry,in all its holiness and sincerity,as the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople that it has always been,bravely asserting the religious freedom of a Ukraine so long repressed by its mighty and sinister neighbour to the East.