The governing body of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod,
signalled on June 1 its withdrawal from the Pan-Orthodox Council to be
held in Crete from June 16 to 26.
Strictly speaking, the Holy Synod demanded the postponement of the
council unless its various demands were met, but given that this is
unlikely to happen, the Synod’s decision effectively amounts to
withdrawal.
The Pan-Orthodox Council has been planned as the first such gathering
in about 1000 years, but has been beset by controversies – one of the
most significant ones being the fact that it is being held in Crete, not
in Istanbul, seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The move was made under
Russian pressure because of the tensions between Moscow and Ankara.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, where senior figures are strongly
influenced by their Russian Orthodox co-religionist church figures, said
that it would not participate if Bulgarian proposals for “thematic and
organisational changes” to the planned council were not taken account of
and respected.
The Holy Synod said that at its June 1 meeting, it had held
“extensive discussions” on issues related to the convening of the Great
and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in June.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s leaders found a number of pretexts to
call for the postponement of the Pan-Orthodox Council meeting and to
say that unless the council was postponed, the church would not
participate.
The Holy Synod listed six objections...
Read the rest here.
HT: Byzantine Texas
Three cheers for the Bulgarians!
I'm really surprised more churches aren't or haven't pulled out already.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed they have the nerve to call it a "pan-Orthodox" synod. It's no such thing!
ReplyDeleteAs long as they've all learned a lesson from Rome's mid-twentieth century debacle ("look what Rome did, it didn't work..."), otherwise, God help us.
ReplyDeleteRemind me again, what do these guys do for a living? Can they be put to some use mowing lawns, weeding?
ReplyDeleteI am a little puzzled by your approval of this decision. If their brethren in the faith are in danger of going astray, surely it's their Christian duty to attend and fight error?
ReplyDeleteLove the irony: Wait around 1,200 years, announce a get together for "some coffee, maybe some donuts" 100 years ago, put docs out 10 years ago, and "suddenly" we're unprepared... so cancel 'cause let's see... "Dog ate my homework?" Ridiculous. For a church that purports to prize conciliarity, it has to actually meet and give conciliarity a "try"... otherwise "reality bites". Demonstrate a little faith, a modicum of trust, and a little love... even "Just have a donut, some coffee and chill". How hard is that? Why should the Bulgarians be applauded for thinking we can't handle it... much less give it a try? Yoda... is a cartoon, not a philosophy of life.
ReplyDelete