Athonite Fathers Slam Council of Crete - Demand Break With Constantinople

An "Open Letter" from Athonite Fathers to the Holy Community of the Holy Mountain of Athos is calling for an immediate convocation of the governing body of Mt. Athos in order to condemn the "false council" of Crete and cease the comemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople on Mt. Athos.
 
OVER 60 Hieromonk and monks, with a disciple of Saint Paisios, Elder Gabriel of the Kelli of St. Christodoulos (Holy Monastery of Koutloumosiou) at their head, have written an open letter to the Holy Community of Mt. Athos calling upon the Abbots to reject the Council in Crete and stating their intention to cease commemoration of the Patriarch of Constantinople on account of his leadership in the "false council" at which the pan-heresy of ecumenism was given a green light and bolstered in word and deed.

Read the rest here.

I would not get overly excited about this... yet. There are a lot more than 60 monks on the Holy Mountain. Still the more conservative wing in the Church is certainly not thrilled with the Council. We will have to wait and see where this goes.

For the record

The Russians have confirmed... They are not attending the Pan-Orthodox Synod

The Russians Will Skip Council

Source.

This Council as presently envisioned is now dead. It is quite possible, maybe even probably, that at some point there will be a meeting. But there are going to have to be major changes/fixes before that happens.

A Collection of Documents Related to the Forthcoming(?) Pan Orthodox Council

Most of the documents are critical but well worth perusing.

http://jordanville.org/news_160511_1.html

The latest on the Pan-Orthodox Synod: Serbia is out & Russia is looking for the exit ramp

Serbian Orthodox Church refuses to participate in Pan-Orthodox Council

Moscow Patriarchate calls emergency session, weighs withdrawal from Pan-Orthodox Council

HT: Dr. Tighe

Antioch Withdraws from the Council

The statement of the Holy Synod of Antioch.

It looks like the council is now on life support.

Metropolitan Benjamin of Vladivostok and Primorsk on Orthodox participation in the World Council of Churches

April 19, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, hosted the conference: “The Pan-Orthodox Council: Opinions and Expectations.” Taking part in the work of the conference were prominent bishops, clergy, and laity. Among those called to take part in the conference was one of the most authoritative hierarchs of our Church, Metropolitan Benjamin (Pushkar) of Vladivostok and Primorsk, head of the Primorsk Metropolia. However Vladyka was not able to be present in Moscow, but sent his judgment-presentation to the conference concerning those themes which most concerned him. A photocopy of the document was given to each conference participant. As the opinion of Vladyka Benjamin is important for many children of our Church, we offer this document to the reader’s attention, written in the form of an address to the rector of the university, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyev.

Read the rest here.

No mincing of words here.

Fr. Peter Heers: From Vatican II to the Pan Orthodox Synod - Signposts on the Way to Crete

Delivered to the Diakideio Institute for the Education of the People in Patra, Greece, May 18, 2016.
 
It is an overused but necessary cliché to state that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the Oecumenical Councils. It is more essential to state that the Orthodox Church not only held and lived through those Councils, it also lives daily by the words spoken by the Holy Apostles in that first of all Church Councils in Jerusalem: it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15:28); first to the Holy Spirit and then to the Apostles and all the successors of the Apostles. This theanthropic way of being, which began in earnest in council on the day of Pentecost, is integral to, irremovable from, the life of the Orthodox Church and of Orthodox Christians.

It is the implication of this reality, or rather the absence of evidence thereof among those at the highest levels of the Church, which makes my presentation to you tonight all the more difficult, even painful.

The Orthodox Church stands just weeks away from the long awaited “Great and Holy Council,” which will convene in Crete on the Feast of Pentecost. This Council is unique in the history of the Church for the length of time it has been under preparation, but also for another first: the degree to which its preparatory meetings, organization and certain of its texts have, under the influence of a council of the heterodox, the Second Vatican Council, diverted from the Orthodox way.

This is the reason that, immediately upon the publication of the pre-synodical texts, a wave of objections arose on a Pan-Orthodox level. Certain among the more fanatical enthusiasts of ecumenism have attempted to downplay the serious and studies critiques which have been levelled against the pre-synodical texts and the Council itself asserting the criticism is coming from “extremists” and “fanatics” who are “against the council,” have no respect for the conciliar system or an ecclesiastical ethos. These critics neglect the fact that objections to the ecclesiologically abysmal texts have been expressed on a pan-Orthodox level by...

Read the rest here.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church withdraws from Pan-Orthodox Council in Crete

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!

ROCOR Holy Synod on the Proposed Texts for the Great and Holy Pan-Orthodox Synod

 To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics and Pious Faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia:

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

In light of the welcome publication of the documents to be considered by the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled to take place on Crete from 16-27 June 2016, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has undertaken to examine these texts, together with a multitude of other Hierarchs, clergy and laity who are doing the same as preparations for the Council continue, and to communicate with our God-preserved flock and others the manner of suggestions we are proposing, since the documents of the Council are the cause of interest and questioning to very many. We are reminded, in this as in all things, of the words of the Lord to the Holy Apostle St. Peter, when He pronounced that the future shepherd’s work would be to feed My sheep (John 21:17); and likewise that the food for those who love Him is to diligently preserve what Christ has taught them: If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15), and If a man love me, he will keep my words (John 14:23).

It is with zeal for such divine commandments that the whole plenitude of the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church seeks to apply the counsel of the Righteous Solomon: incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2), scrutinizing the documents that have been made available to us with humility, diligence and obedience. This task is undertaken in a spirit free from fear or worldly worry, since we fervently trust that God Himself is ever the helmsman of the Church, and as He has guided her through the many centuries to our day, so He will continue to guide and preserve us now and until He comes again. Rather, we offer reflections on a few of the texts as a means of conjoining our thoughts to those of many others who are working for the good of all our inter-Orthodox endeavours, including His Holiness the Patriarch and those members of our Russian Orthodox Church who labour with him in these preparations.

While certain of the documents—which have been prepared by the Pre-Conciliar Conferences for the Council’s consideration, but which are of course not final texts and are necessarily preliminary—do not give rise for concern in our reading, and indeed contain elements of useful clarification (for example, the document “Autonomy and the Means of Proclaiming It”), the employment in others of ambiguous terminology, a lack of theological precision, and ecclesiological language foreign to the sacred tradition of the Church, demand commentary that may lead to their correction. This is most notably the case in two documents: “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World”, and “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World”; and a few issues arise also with the procedural text entitled “Organisation and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church.”

Read the rest here.

Ecumenical Patriarch addresses Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches on preparations for the Great and Holy Council

From 22 to 27 January 2016, at the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, the works of the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches are being carried out.

At the opening of the event, His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, delivered a speech thanking the other Primates of the Orthodox Churches, as well as the delegations, for accepting to change the place of the Synaxis from the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s residence in Istanbul, Turkey, to the Chambésy Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is “meant for serving the pan-Orthodox unity, and which for a long time has hosted and still hosts many inter-Orthodox and pan-Orthodox meetings”.

Next, the Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the themes that will be discussed at the Holy and Great Synod, themes that have been established at the first Presynodal Pan-Orthodox Conference of 1976, namely:

   1. The Orthodox Diaspora;
   2. Autocephaly and the way it is to be proclaimed;
   3. Autonomy and the way it is to be proclaimed;
   4. Diptychs;
   5. Common Calendar;
   6.  Impediments to marriage;
   7.  Adaptation of the fasting ordinances;
   8.  Relations of the Orthodox Churches with the whole Christian World;
   9.  The Orthodoxy and the ecumenical movement;
   10.  Contributions of the local Orthodox Churches to the promotion of the Christian ideals of peace, freedom, brotherhood and love among peoples, and elimination of racial discrimination.

Nevertheless, His Holiness noted that consensus hasn’t been reached on some themes during the meetings of the Commission for the Preparation of the Holy and Great Synod, thus asking whether the 8 themes that were validated at a Pan-Orthodox level are sufficient for the agenda of the Synod, or is it necessary to postpone the convocation of the Synod until the pan-Orthodox unanimity will be reached upon all the other themes (autocephaly, diptychs, impediments to marriage and common calendar).

The Holy and Great Synod is of direct and vital interest both for the Orthodox lay faithful, clergy and monastics, and for the rest of the Christian world

Emphasizing the fact that “the Holy and Great Synod is of direct and vital interest both for the Orthodox lay faithful, clergy and monastics, and for the rest of the Christian world”, His Holiness added that several other persons should attend to the works of the Holy and Great Synod as observers: both clergy, monastics and lay faithful of the Orthodox Church, and those of other Christian Churches or Confessions, found in dialogue with the Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch offered as an example the fact that at the works of the Second Vatican Council, the Orthodox Church delegated persons as observers to attend the Council.

Referring to the fact that even before the meeting of the Holy and Great Synod, some “fighters for Orthodoxy” call it a robber council, the Ecumenical Patriarch asks what kind of authority will its decisions have, and which are going to be the canonical consequences in case of disobeying these decisions.

The Patriarch of Constantinople also spoke about the significance of the words consensus and unanimity. Furthermore, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew emphasized the fact that “if a synod meets under the threat of its dissolution, it had better not taken place” and referred to some Ecumenical Synods that met even when some local Churches were absent.

His Holiness addressed to other practical details: the duration of the Holy and Great Synod, and the establishment of a common secretariat of the Synod. The Ecumenical Patriarch proposed that the Pan-Orthodox Synod should be carried out for at least two weeks, and its works should be accompanied by religious manifestations.

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13: 11) were the biblical words with which His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew concluded his speech.

Source.

The Triumph of Orthodoxy concelebrated by the Primates of the local churches

Some Roman Catholic Suggestions for the Pan Orthodox Synod

Two interesting posts on our much discussed forthcoming (?) Pan-Orthodox Synod from a Roman Catholic blog. See here and here.

Heads of all canonical Orthodox Churches to meet in Constantinople

Patriarch Bartholomew has invited the heads of all canonical Orthodox Churches to a meeting in Constantinople (Istanbul) on March 9 2014, for the planning of the organization of [the] Pan-Orthodox Council for the next year. As said by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the meeting should be a serious effort toward the unity of the Christian world and improve cooperation of the local Orthodox Churches. At the meeting will also be discussed the issue of uniformity of the calendar for all Orthodox Christians.

Source.