Fate of upcoming council "hangs in the balance"

(Sightings) - During the meeting of Christian Orthodox Primates (heads of local Orthodox churches), which begins today in Switzerland, the participants will show the world whether the unity of the Orthodox Church is more important than their particular agendas.

The issue facing the Primates is whether to convene, as planned, a “Holy and Great” Council of the Orthodox Church, or Pan-Orthodox Council as it is also called, around the feast of Pentecost, in June of this year.

The Holy and Great Council (if it takes place) will have historical momentum, not only for Orthodox believers, but also for the global religious landscape.

Given increasing religious pluralism on the international scene, the fall of the Soviet Union, and growing secularization in developed countries, the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Council is, in part, intended to signal the continued unity of communion among the fourteen independent, or autocephalous, Orthodox Churches.

The idea of convening a “Holy and Great Council,” whose name ties it to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325), has been under discussion since the early 20th century. The Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras (1886-1972) officially initiated the pre-conciliar process in 1961 by organizing the first Panorthodox Conference in Rhodes. Five Panorthodox Preconciliar Conferences have been held to date (1976, 1982, 1986, 2009 and 2015).

One of the role of the Preconciliar Conferences has been to prepare documents on ten topics to be studied by the Council...
Complete article here.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2016 at 5:53 PM

    That article is a joke….and very biased. I can’t believe the author implies that the conservative voices may lead to the same problems that were experienced at the second Vatican council. If the Vatican 2 had listened to the traditional voices within their communion, they would not have suffered the deterioration into Protestantism that they face today. The big give away here, was the reference to the arch-ecumenist George Demacoupolos.

    There is no need for this council.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Byzantine, TXJanuary 22, 2016 at 6:22 PM

      Agree with bias and use of references. Disagree on the need for a council.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2016 at 9:46 PM

      I know that I sound like a pessimist. But I am old enough to see what the second Vatican council did to the Latin Catholics (I was born and raised Catholic). Suddenly, a priest who was in exile and whose teachings were banned by Pope Pius XII, was embraced by Pope John XXIII and elevated as the most influential "theologian" on that council (Yves Congar). The rest is history.

      Forgive me if I am skeptical, but there are no pernicious heresies to confront at this time that would warrant a council in the Holy Orthodox Church.

      Except perhaps the heresy of ecumenism.

      Delete
  2. DNYJanuary 25, 2016 at 5:23 PM

    There is indeed the heresy of ecumenism that ought to be confronted.

    And perhaps also the attitude that parallel "jurisdictions" within the same territory separated on an ethnic basis is an acceptable and desirable way of organizing the Church -- I seem to recall that it was the Bulgarian desire to have a separate ethnic "jurisidiction" within the territory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that was condemned as the heresy of ethnophylitism. "Jurisdictionalism" has always struck me as being ethnophylitism-lite rather as monothelitism was monophysitism-lite.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EP calls different Paschal dates a "scandal"

( Orthodox Times ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew extended in his homily his heartfelt wishes to all the non-Orthodox Christians who celebrated the Holy Easter on Sunday, March 31, after presiding over the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Theodore of the Community of Vlanga. “On this day, the timeless message of the Resurrection resonates more profoundly than ever, as our non-Orthodox Christian brethren and sisters commemorate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, celebrating Holy Easter. We have already sent our representatives to all the Christian Communities of the confessions here, to extend our heartfelt wishes of the Holy Great Church of Christ and our Patriarchal congratulations. But also from this position we extend a heartfelt greeting of love to all Christians around the world who celebrate Holy Easter today. We beseech the Lord of Glory that the forthcoming Easter celebration next year will not merely be a fortuitous occurrence, but rather the beginning...
Read more

Big news for the Western Rite, ROCOR, and Bp. Jerome

Image
NEW YORK: July 12, 2013 ( ROCOR ) - An Extraordinary Session of the Synod of Bishops is Held On Wednesday, July 10, 2013, an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held, presided over by its First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York. Participating in the meeting were permanent members of the Synod of Bishops: His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada, and His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America. Deliberating on the matter of Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, the Synod of Bishops made a decision as follows: “During a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, presided over by the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, A DECISION WAS MADE: on the activities of Bishop Jerome of Ma...
Read more

OCA takes strong stand for canonical Orthodoxy

( Orthochristian.com ) - The primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada, will concelebrate with the primate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, in western Ukraine later this week. The Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovina “awaits the visit of the primate of the Orthodox Church in America on June 1–2, 2024. Solemn services will be held in the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Chernivtsi, with the participation of both primates.” The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America formally rejects communion with the schismatics of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” recognizing only the canonical UOC under Met. Onuphry. The Ukrainian primate was the honored guest at the OCA’s 18th All-American Council in July 2015.
Read more