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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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The Holy and Great Council held its concluding session on the 25th of June 2016, at the Orthodox Academy of Crete. The work of the Council had commenced with the Patriarchal Concelebration on the Sunday of Pentecost, the 19th of June 2016, when the Divine Liturgy was presided over by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch, in Concelebration with the Primates of the Local Orthodox Autocephalous Churches, who were present, in the Cathedral of St. Minas in Heraklion, Crete.
During the sessions of the Holy and Great Council, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed his joy, for the willing and positive response of the Local Autocephalous Orthodox Churches in attendance. At the same time, he underlined the immense efforts, over many years, by all Autocephalous Churches in preparation of the topics on the Council’s agenda.
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CWN - June 25 was the second day of Pope Francis’s three-day apostolic journey to Armenia, a nation described as the world’s first Christian nation because of its acceptance of the Christian faith in the early fourth century.
Today, 93% of Armenians are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox church that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451. 6% of Armenians are Catholic.
Pope Francis began his schedule of public events on June 25 with a visit to Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenian Genocide memorial. There, he prayed in silence, laid down a wreath, and met with descendants of Armenian refugees housed by Pope Pius XI in the Apostolic Palace in the 1920s.
The Pope then flew to Gyumri, Armenia’s second-largest city, and celebrated an outdoor Mass. During his homily, he described memory, faith, and merciful love as “three stable foundations upon which we can tirelessly build and rebuild the Christian life” and paid tribute to St. Gregory of Narek, the Armenian doctor of the Church, as “a great herald of divine mercy.”
After visiting the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic cathedrals in Gyumri, the Pope flew back to Yerevan, the nation’s capital and largest city, where he took part in an evening ecumenical prayer vigil for peace.
“With great joy, we are walking together on a journey that has already taken us far, and we look confidently towards the day when by God’s help we shall be united around the altar of Christ’s sacrifice in the fullness of Eucharistic communion,” Pope Francis said in his address. “As we pursue that greatly desired goal, we are joined in a common pilgrimage; we walk with one another with sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all suspicion and mistrust.”
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CWN - Arriving in Armenia on June 24 to begin a weekend visit, Pope Francis broke from his prepared text to use the term "genocide" in a reference to the massacres of 1915.
At a meeting with Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church; and Armenia's President Serzh Sargysan, the Pope referred to the Turkish slaughter of Armenians. He said:
Sadly, that tragedy, that genocide, was the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples.
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CWN - A Syrian Catholic prelate has applauded Pope Francis for insisting that the suffering of Christians in the Middle East should be described as martyrdom rather than genocide.
By refraining from the use of the word "genocide," Said Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo of Hissake Nisibis, the Pope "brings us back to reality and helps us not to take our eyes off the experience of martyrdom, whcih accompanies the entire journey of the Church in this world."
Archbishop Hindo added that the term "genocide," when applied to Christians in the Middle East, is also misleading, since Islamic jihadists kill many more Muslims than Christians.
The archbishop said that the term "genocide" has been invoked by some people to justify arming Christian militia groups that describe themselves as Christian. "Thus even Christianity is reduced to ideology of war used by tribal groups," he lamented.
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CWN - On June 21, participants in the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, gathered at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, discussed “The Orthodox Diaspora,” one of six draft documents on the council’s agenda.
In recent weeks, four of the 14 churches decided not to send delegations to the council, so ten of the 14 Orthodox primates, joined by 154 bishops, examined the draft document, which received unanimous approval from all 14 primates in January.
The document calls for the creation of a dozen “episcopal assemblies” in regions outside of traditionally Orthodox territories. The document states:
The work and the responsibility of these Episcopal Assemblies will be the concern for manifesting the unity of Orthodoxy, the development of common action of all the Orthodox of each region to address the pastoral needs of Orthodox living in the region, a common representation of all Orthodox vis-à-vis other faiths and the wider society in the region, the cultivation of theological scholarship and ecclesiastical education, etc.
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CWN - On June 20 and 21, participants in the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church discussed “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World,” one of six draft documents on the council’s agenda.
The draft document, which received unanimous approval from the heads of the 14 Orthodox churches in January, is subtitled “the contribution of the Orthodox Church in realizing peace, justice, freedom, fraternity and love between peoples, and in the removal of racial and other discriminations.”
In recent weeks, four of the 14 churches decided not to send delegations to the council.
The draft document has six chapters:
- The Dignity of the Human Person
- Freedom and Responsibility
- Peace and Justice
- Peace and the Aversion of War
- The Attitude of the Church Toward Discrimination
- The Mission of the Orthodox Church as a Witness of Love through Service
Discussion of this document began in 1976, and the subtitle-- originally the document’s title-- dates from 1986.
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