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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.

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CWN - Expressing “surprise and wonder of the positions and opinions expressed recently by some sister Orthodox Churches,” the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has affirmed that the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church will take place as scheduled on June 19 in Crete.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch have announced in recent days that they will not participate in the council.

“No institutional framework allows for the revision of the synodal process already under way,” the Ecumenical Patriarchate said in a statement. “The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which bears the first responsibility for safeguarding the unity of Orthodoxy, calls all to rise to the occasion and participate, on the pre-determined dates.”

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CWN - The Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow has called a special meeting, apparently to consider withdrawing from the Pan-Orthodox Council that is scheduled to convene in Crete on June 19.

With at least two major Orthodox bodies already having announced that they will not participate in the meeting, the Moscow patriarchate had called for a special conference to resolve disputes before the opening of the worldwide meeting. But the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has said that the Council will proceed on schedule.

”The Council is still on,” Archdeacon John Chryssavgis, a spokesman for the Constantinople see, told the Crux news site. “If one or more churches don’t attend, all the decisions made will still hold and be binding for all Orthodox churches.”

The Russian Orthodox Church has taken an opposing stand. "We proposed that the Patriarch of Constantinople hold a conference before the Council to tackle all the issues due to which Churches are now refusing to participate one after another,” Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the ecumenical-affairs department for the Moscow patriarchate, told the Interfax news service. “If these issues are resolved, then the Council will take place. If they are not, then it's probably best to postpone it.”

The Pan-Orthodox Council was intended as a gathering of leaders of all the world’s autocephalous Orthodox churches: an event that has not occurred since the Great Schism. The meeting, which has been in preparation for several decades, now appears to be in jeopardy. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Antioch have announced that they do not intend to participate. The Greek and Georgian Orthodox churches have also voiced serious misgivings about the documents presented for discussion at the Council.

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CWN - The Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops in the United States met recently in New Hampshire.

In view of the upcoming pan-Orthodox council, participants expressed their hope “that unity among the local autocephalous Orthodox Churches will greatly benefit the quest for unity and communion between Catholics and Orthodox.”

The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox bishops also lamented the persecution of Christian refugees, praised countries that have welcomed large numbers of migrants and refugees from the Middle East, and called for the eventual “safe return of those who were uprooted from their homes and forced into exile due to violence.”

The bishops added:

Recognizing that human efforts alone cannot fully ensure the end of violence and the promotion of peace in the world, we encourage all people of faith to entreat the Lord God, Who is not a God of disorder, but of Peace (1 Cor. 14:33), to fill with His joy and peace those who are afflicted, as we continue to trust in Him (Rom 15:13).

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CWN - Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Rapael I Sako has exhorted Iraqi Muslims to live an "exceptional Ramadan," fasting and praying for peace.

In his message, the Chaldean prelate said that Ramadan is "a propitious time for fasting, prayer, repentance, and to change mentality and behavior in order to live in peace with oneself and others." He asked them to avoid a sectarian outlook and to work for peaceful coexistence among the peoples of Iraq.

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CWN - The Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch has announced that it will not participate in the Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled to take place in Crete later this month. 

The Antioch patriarchate becomes the 2nd major Orthodox body to opt out of the worldwide meeting. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church had already indicated that it would not participate. The defections cast a shadow over the unprecedented meeting, which was designed to foster unity among the world's Orthodox churches.

The Patriarchate of Antioch is locked in a jurisdictional dispute with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and had appealed to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to settle the matter. When the Constantinople see indicated that it would defer a decision until after the June meeting, the Antioch patriarchate said that it could not share Communion with representatives of the Jerusalem patriarchate.

"The Antiochian Church will not participate in the Holy and Great Council until the reasons which prevent participating in the Holy Eucharist during the Council disappear," the patriarchate announced on June 7. The statement urged the Ecumencial Patriarchate to postpone the meeting, which is scheduled to open on June 19. 

The Ecumenical Patriarchate had announced a day earlier that the Council would open on schedule.  

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CWN- The press office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has made public the draft documents that will be discussed at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which is scheduled to begin on June 18 at the Orthodox Academy in Kolymvari, Crete.

The documents are entitled “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World,” “The Orthodox Diaspora,” “Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed,” “The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments,” “The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today,” and “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.”

“It is the first time in 1,200 years that 14 autocephalous Orthodox churches are meeting,” the press office stated. “Approximately 500 individuals will be part of this historic gathering, with a common desire to reinforce their relations and address contemporary spiritual and social challenges in the world.”

On June 1, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church announced its unanimous decision not to participate in the council unless it is postponed for a year.

References:

  1. Statement from Patriarchate of Antioch raises new concerns about Pan-Orthodox Council
  2. Islamic informant claims evidence that priest kidnapped in Syria is still alive
  3. ISIS attacks have helped forge bonds of unity with Catholics, says Orthodox bishop
  4. Patriarch Kirill, President Putin visit Mount Athos

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