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St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain comments on the meaning of this canon:
'':"So it is evident that the Canon means that if any bishop or clergyman has a dispute or difference with the Metropolitan of an exarchy, let him apply to the Exarch of the diocese; which is the same thing as saying that clergymen and metropolitans subject to the throne of Constantinople must have their case tried either before the Exarch of the diocese in which they are situated, or before the Bishop of Constantinople, as before a Patriarch of their own. '''It did not say that if any clergyman has a dispute or difference with the Metropolitan of any diocese or parish whatever, they must be tried before the Bishop of Constantinople…. ''' That is why Zonaras too says that the Bishop of Constantinople is not necessarily entitled to sit as judge over all Metropolitans, '''but (only) over those who are judicially subject to him ''' (interpretation of c. XVII of the present 4th C.). And in his interpretation of c. V of Sardica the same authority says: "The Bishop of Constantinople must hear the appeals only of those who are subject to the Bishop of Constantinople, precisely as the Bishop of Rome must hear the appeals only of those who are subject to the Bishop of Rome"'' <ref>(D. Cummings, trans., ''The Rudder of the Orthodox Catholic Church: The Compilation of the Holy Canons Saints Nicodemus and Agapius'' (West Brookfield, MA: The Orthodox Christian Educational Society, 1983), p. 255).</ref>
One might also point out the absurdity of ''not'' reading the canon as St. Nichodemos suggests. You would have to conclude that Constantinople could even overrule Rome... something that even the pre-schism Roman Church would never have accepted, nor is it likely that any other Patriarchate of that time would have either.
Concerning the meaning of the reference to "barbarian Lands", St. Nicodemos writes:
:''"Not only are the Metropolitans of the said dioceses to be ordained by him, but indeed also the bishops located '''in barbarian regions that border on the said dioceses''', as, for instance, those called Alani are adjacent to and flank the diocese of Pontus, while the Russians border on that of Thrace"'' <ref>The Rudder, p. 276</ref>.
And so the canon does not refer to all unclaimed territory on the planet, according to St. Nicodemos, but only to a specific area on the border of a specific area.
