Assembly of Bishops for Oceania meets in Sydney

(spc.rs) - The members of the 3rd Episcopal Assembly of the canonical Orthodox Bishops of Oceania welcomed once again the opportunity to meet in Sydney from October 14-15, 2012, under the chairmanship ex officio of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia. The Assembly commenced with prayer at the Central Offices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Redfern.

Present were: His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos (Ecumenical Patriarchate), His Grace Bishop Irinej (Serbian Church), His Grace Bishop Mihail (Romanian Church), His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilochios (Ecumenical Patriarchate – New Zealand), His Grace Bishop Ezekiel (Assistant Bishop), His Grace Bishop Seraphim (Assistant Bishop), His Grace Bishop Nikandros (Assistant Bishop), His Grace Bishop Iakovos (Assistant Bishop), the Very Rev. Fr Michael Protopopov (representing His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church), and the Rev. Fr Michael Smolynec with the Very Rev. Fr Wolodymyr Lulka (representing His Eminence Archbishop Ioan of Parnassou of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora).

The Bishops continued the work of the Second Assembly, held in Sydney in October last year, carefully listened to the pastoral challenges confronting our respective Churches and heard the Reports of the relevant Committees, noting with pleasure the progress that has been made in the following areas:

The realization of a Synaxis meeting of Hierarchy and Clergy of all canonical jurisdictions, on Monday 30th April 2012, in Melbourne, for the purpose of furthering brotherly relations in order to carry out the decisions of the Assembly on a local level. The plans are already in place for continuing such Synaxes in Sydney and Auckland (New Zealand) with the anticipation of doing so in other major Australian cities as well; The timely celebration of the 1700th Anniversary of the Edict of Milan (2013), which historically granted religious tolerance, given that today's religious freedom is being challenged. In realisation of the same, a sub-committee is being formed under the chairmanship of His Grace Bishop Seraphim; The formation of the Orthodox Christian Chaplaincy Council of Victoria (OCCCV) and subsequent appointment of its first Co-ordinator (Mr Daniel Bellis) for Hospital Chaplaincy in Victoria; In accordance with the aim of issuing responsible joint statements on the ethical dimensions of proposed Government legislation, the Assembly issued on 22nd March 2012 its first statement for the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in Canberra regarding the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2012; and The official website of the Assembly, that will inform our faithful of its work and provide a source of information including a catalogue of Canonical Orthodox Clergy and Parishes of Oceania, is currently under construction and nearing completion.

It was unanimously agreed that:

In concert with the Mother Churches, this Assembly will establish a common practice for the receiving of Orthodox Christians coming from ambiguous and/or non-canonical ecclesiastical circumstances; and The Assembly decries the unlawful imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skopje and the continued persecution of the members of the Archdiocese of Ochrid and members of his family. Further to this, the Assembly calls upon the Government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to immediately release Archbishop Jovan and to cease and desist persecuting the Archdiocese of Ochrid, whilst calling upon our faithful to join in prayer on behalf of Archbishop Jovan.

Dated 15th October, 2012

His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos (Ecumenical Patriarchate – Australia) His Grace Bishop Irinej (Serbian Church) His Grace Bishop Mihail (Romanian Church) His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilochios (Ecumenical Patriarchate – New Zealand) His Grace Bishop Ezekiel (Assistant Bishop) His Grace Bishop Seraphim (Assistant Bishop) His Grace Bishop Nikandros (Assistant Bishop) His Grace Bishop Iakovos (Assistant Bishop)