June 13, 2016 23:16
The situation is not catastrophic, he expressed confidence chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, commenting on the theme of preparation for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. June 13, 2016 at an extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held to discuss the situation that has arisen in connection with the refusal to participate in the Council by a number of Local Orthodox Churches. It was assumed that the Pan-Orthodox Council will be held 18-26 June this year on the island of Crete.
Following the discussion, the Holy Synod adopted a statement on the issue, aimed Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. According to members of the Synod, the only possible solution in this case becomes a continuation of the preparation of the Holy and Great Council and the subsequent achievement of common Orthodox consensus to hold it in other terms.
«We do everything together preparing Pan-Orthodox Council and we were not able to prepare it so that all the churches were satisfied – said Bishop. – I think you need to learn from this lesson and understand that the voice of the Church can not be ignored: if the Church is concerned about something, that concern should be removed when the Church offers to accept some amendments, it is necessary to pay more attention to these amendments »
According to Metropolitan Hilarion, the current situation is largely due to the fact that the problems that pre-conciliar Church in the process of talking quite openly, suppressed or delayed for the future. “Here, for example, the Church of Antioch did not want to discuss the problem of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Qatar was postponed to the post-conciliar period, – continued the Archbishop. – Patriarchate of Antioch assured that the Council should be a continuation of Orthodox unity. The unity of the Church is expressed in the total ministry of the liturgy, and if one of the local Churches can not participate in the joint celebration of the Eucharist, therefore, this is an emergency that needs to be resolved before the Council convocation. »
Lord also He noted that there are other critical moments in bilateral relations. Thus, the Serbian Orthodox Church in a statement said the unresolved problems in relations with the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is established on the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of the Serbian diocese. The Romanian Church has also established its jurisdiction over the territory of Moldova, which is included in the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are unresolved problems in Estonia, where in 1996 the Patriarchate of Constantinople has created parallel to the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction. Georgian Church for its part, pointed to a number of issues, including the question of diptychs. There is also the problem of lack of on Pan-Orthodox Council the Orthodox Church in America, since its autocephaly is not universally accepted.
«We were ready for church-wide peace and unity to close your eyes to some of the existing problems, and until recently, being prepared to participate in the Pan-Orthodox Council, – she witnessed the DECR chairman. – At the Council of Bishops, we have decided that we will participate, we have formed the delegation. And only after of the Local Orthodox Churches – first from the Bulgarian, then of Antioch, then from Georgia – began to receive the news that they will not participate in the Council as from the Serbian Orthodox Church received a proposal to postpone the Pan-Orthodox Council, we realized that the question of our participation in the Council should deliver and solve the Synod. Today, this issue has been resolved ».
DECR Communication Service / Patriarhiya.ru
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