According to him, the church is currently "in great temptation."
“The temptation that befell our first hierarch, the Ecumenical Patriarch: to make a decision that could be catastrophic for the Church - to do something that he has no right to: recognize the schismatic church and even give it autocephaly,” Iriney Interfax quoted.
He also expressed the hope that all churches will indicate how disastrous this decision is.
On October 11, the synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate overturned the decision to excommunicate the patriarch of the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate Filaret and the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Macarius.