https://orthochristian.com/180932.html

In line with the recent statements of the Greek and Romanian Orthodox Churches, the crude racism of ROCOR is at last being reined in. The scandalous public statements by at least one of its bishops that ‘Patriarch Bartholomew is possessed and I don’t like Romanians and only half-like Moldovans’ have to be walked back at last. Too late, but it is at least a start.

It is wonderful news, though long overdue. The ‘Wild West’ has to be stopped. This is clearly the result of pressure from Moscow to rein in the untrained, crazy clerical converts of ROCOR. Moscow is utterly fed up with the Protestant sectarian ‘Orthodoxy’ (as Fr Seraphim Aldea has rightly called it) and Trumpery of ROCOR, which was introduced when untrained Protestant convert bishops took over in 2016. Now the ROCOR Synod has to apply these rules concerning priests to the bishops, some of whom have behaved far worse than the podcasting, tele-evangelist, right-wing, personality cult ROCOR priests in question. Otherwise, this will all be hypocrisy. Repentance is possible and we have been praying for it for years.

The next step will be to draw ROCOR out of its schism from the Archdiocese of Western Europe of the Russian Church and all its episcopal condemnations of the other Local Churches and constant refusals to concelebrate. ROCOR must finally decide if it is actually in communion with the other Orthodox Churches, or else that it is merely Russian Old Calendarism Outside Russia (‘ROCOR’) and therefore a sect. The only way forward in the Diaspora is to move towards the 200 million faithful of the Local Churches, not to isolate oneself like new pharisees in self-righteous and sectarian condemnation of others.