Conference of Orthodox Bishops in Benelux meets

(orthodoxe) - The last weekend, all the Orthodox bishops who have canonical jurisdiction in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg have gathered in Brussels for the second meeting of the Conference of Orthodox Bishops in Benelux (COBB). The attending bishops have discussed the current issues that the Orthodox communities in this part of Europe are facing, and have concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the Belgian capital.

The meeting took place at the residence of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese for Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg, under the presidency of His Eminence, Metropolitan Panteleimon. The Romanian Orthodox Church was represented by His Eminence Joseph, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of Western and Southern Europe.

During their meeting on Saturday, the bishops have discussed about the impact of the current political situation in Belgium on the life of the religious cults in this country, the organization of the Orthodox Church in the Netherlands, as well as a series of pastoral problems related to the Orthodox faithful’s place in a more and more secularized society.

The bishops have also decided to establish five theological commissions of COBB, which will deal with particular aspects of the Church’s life: a commission for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, one for education, one for youths, one for mass-media and another one for pastoral problems. Each diocese will be represented by a delegate in each of these commissions.

On Sunday morning the bishops have concelebrated the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, in the “St. Archangels” Cathedral in Brussels. The answers were chanted by Greek, Romanian and Georgian choirs, while the sermon was delivered by His Eminence Joseph.

This was the second meeting of the COBB, after its foundation in June 2010. It has been convened that the next one will take place in September 2011.