Preparatory process for the first modern all-Orthodox Holy and Great Council

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Council logo (2016)

The preparatory process for the first modern allorthodoxe Holy and Great Council (Greek. Προπαρασκευὴ τῆς Ἁγίας καὶ Μεγάλης Συνόδου τῆς Ὀρθοδόξου Ἐκκλησίας , Russ. Подготовка Святого и Великого Собора Православной Церкви ) is a process within the worldwide Orthodox churches with the aim of allorthodoxen Synod , the Have the rank and authority of an Ecumenical Council and should clarify important questions concerning the whole of Orthodoxy. This council would continue the series of the seven Ecumenical Councils recognized by Orthodoxy between 325 and 787.

history

The ecumenical patriarch Joachim III gave the impetus . 1902 and 1904 with two circulars to all Orthodox regional churches. From the beginning, the political upheavals since the beginning of the First World War , the rivalries between the autocephalous churches and the canonical ambiguities about the procedure stood in the way of the plan . On the other hand, globalization and the situation of multinational emigrant communities made the matter more and more urgent from the second half of the 20th century.

In 1923 there was a first all-Orthodox meeting in Istanbul and in 1930 on Mount Athos to set up a preparatory commission. Further steps were not taken until the All-Orthodox Assemblies in Rhodes in 1961 , 1963 and 1964 and in the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Switzerland in 1968. In Chambésy, the Preparatory Commission ( Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission , IOPC) and the Preconciliar Allorthodox Conference ( Preconciliar Pan -Orthodox Conference , PPOC), which met four times in Chambésy between 1976 and 2009. The question of diptychs remained open . H. the question of the order in which the names of the dignitaries of the churches should be read out in church fellowship. Because this order also determines the ranking of the autocephalous churches.

Until his death in 2011, Metropolitan Damaskinos Papandreou , the director of the Orthodox Center in Chambésy, was the driving force behind the preparatory process .

Preparation of the All-Orthodox Council 2014–2016

In March 2014, the Orthodox Patriarchs and Metropolitans gathered in Istanbul announced the Council for 2016 in Istanbul. At an all-orthodox meeting from January 21 to 28, 2016 in Chambésy it was decided to convene the council not in Istanbul but in Crete for the period from June 16 to 27, i.e. in the days before and after Pentecost according to the Orthodox calendar (on June 19, 2016). The venue should be the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymvari . Insofar as the Archdiocese of Crete belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , the Council remains within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The council was to open with a solemn service in the cathedral "Hagios Minas" in the Cretan capital Heraklion .

In the course of the preparatory process, the participating churches agreed on the topics that the council should deal with. These were essentially the topics that had already been listed as "open questions" at the 1st Allorthodox Assembly in 1961:

  • the orthodox diaspora - orthodox life under modern minority and migration conditions
  • canonical questions regarding autocephaly and autonomy of the particular churches
  • the diptychs as an expression of authority and church fellowship
  • the liturgical calendar - validity of the Julian or Gregorian calendar and other questions
  • Marriage issues and barriers to marriage
  • The meaning and practice of fasting
  • the position of orthodoxy in relation to the ecumenical movement
  • the common commitment for peace, justice and the integrity of creation and against discrimination of all kinds.

At the all-orthodox assembly in Chambésy in January 2016, the rules of procedure of the council were also adopted. Each of the 14 autocephalous churches would send up to 24 bishops, plus up to six theologians as advisors. The delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was u. a. Archbishop Augoustinos Labardakis , the Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Germany . For the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate should u. a. Archbishop Mark , head of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Orthodox Bishop of Berlin and Germany . The Ecumenical Patriarch, Patriarch Bartholomeos I , was planned to lead the deliberations of the council.

Decisions require the consent of all participating churches. Therefore, in any case in Crete, only subjects could have been dealt with on which there was prior agreement; the range of topics could therefore not include the eight “open questions” inherited from Rhodes. New topics and text templates were not allowed to be introduced at the council. The six draft texts on the remaining topics would be published and discussed before the council. Those points on which an agreement was not to be expected (e.g. the dispute between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the so-called “ Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate” , which is not recognized by a single Orthodox national church ) should not be included in the June 2016, but only at the following session periods. In a sense, the Pan-Orthodox Council was planned as a process.

Crisis in May and June 2016

In the months and weeks before the opening of the council, important council documents were subjected to well-founded criticism and numerous suggestions for improvement published immediately after their publication by many regional churches, the monastery brotherhood of St. Athos, but also individual Orthodox theologians and theological institutes. Likewise, almost all churches and synods rejected the council regulations as unsuitable for an orthodox world ecumenical council. Last but not least, the limitation of the number of participants was criticized as being non-traditional, as was the centralization of the eligible votes to one per regional church (at all 7 Ecumenical Councils: one bishop - one vote). At the end of May 2016, first the Bulgarian Orthodox Church , then the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and the Georgian Orthodox Apostle Church declared that they would not be able to take part in the Council due to many unresolved issues relating to content, organization and canon law. On June 1, 2016, the Serbian Orthodox Church joined this with a request to postpone the council, but wants to attend the council as an observer. On June 13, she was followed by Cyril I , Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia , after a special session of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church . He explained that due to the absence of at least three regional churches because of the violation of the “consensus” principle, the all-orthodox council character was no longer preserved. In order to preserve and secure the regulations of the council signed by all regional churches, he called for the date of the council to be postponed so that all controversial and open questions should be thoroughly clarified and dealt with.

Beginning of the council

The Pan-Orthodox Council took place from June 18 to 26, 2016 in Heraklion , Crete. 156 delegates from ten autocephalous churches took part and it was chaired by Bartholomew I , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and Honorary Head of World Orthodoxy. Four churches had canceled: the Patriarchates of Antioch, Georgia, Bulgaria and Russia.

literature

  • Anastasios Kallis : On the way to a holy and great council. A source and work book on orthodox ecclesiology . Theophano-Verlag, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-9815495-0-8 .
  • Johannes Oeldemann: Is the Pan-Orthodox Council coming? In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 64 (2010), pp. 553–557 ( English version online ).
  • Johannes Oeldemann: Council in Crete. The long-awaited Pan-Orthodox Synod will meet in June 2016 . In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 70 (2016), Heft 3, pp. 25–28.
  • Damaskinos Papandreou: Article Pan-Orthodox Conferences . In: The Encyclopedia of Christianity , Grand Rapids and Leiden 2005, pp. 25-26 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Viorel Ioniţă: Towards the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church: The Decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Meetings since 923 until 2009 . Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel 2014, ISBN 978-3-7245-1958-4 , therein Appendix I ( The Pan-Orthodox Congress - Constantinople 1923 , pp. 105–111) and Appendix II ( The Meeting of the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission - Vatopediou, 1930, pp. 112-113 ).
  2. ↑ Johannes Oeldemann: Is the Pan-Orthodox Council coming? In: Herder Korrespondenz , vol. 64 (2010), pp. 553–557, here p. 556.
  3. ↑ Johannes Oeldemann: Is the Pan-Orthodox Council coming? In: Herder Korrespondenz , vol. 64 (2010), pp. 553–557, here p. 557.
  4. ↑ Johannes Oeldemann: Is the Pan-Orthodox Council coming? In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 64 (2010), pp. 553–557, here p. 554.
  5. ^ Catholicworldreport.com , March 14, 2014
  6. ^ Johannes Oeldemann: Council on Crete. The long-awaited Pan-Orthodox Synod will meet in June 2016 . In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 70 (2016), Heft 3, pp. 25–28, here p. 25.
  7. ^ Message from ORF of January 27, 2016: Patriarch: Crete is a good place for the Orthodox Council , accessed on March 11, 2016.
  8. ↑ Norbert Zonker: A clear sign of unity hoped for. Orthodox Church holds first modern council in Crete . Catholic News Agency , Journal, May 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ Johannes Oeldemann: Is the Pan-Orthodox Council coming? In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 64 (2010), pp. 553–557, here p. 553.
  10. ↑ a b c Stefan Kube: Much conflict for a council. Despite the difficult search for compromise, the Orthodox churches are sticking to the goal of a joint synod . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 10, 2016, p. 7.
  11. ^ A b Johannes Oeldemann: Council on Crete. The long-awaited Pan-Orthodox Synod will meet in June 2016 . In: Herder Korrespondenz , Vol. 70 (2016), Heft 3, pp. 25–28, here p. 26.
  12. ↑ Oliver Hinz: Crisis instead of departure. The Orthodox Council is in ruins . In: Catholic News Agency, June 14, 2016.
  13. ↑ press statement by Patriarch Irinej and the Presidium of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church: Делегация Сербской Православной Церкви поедет на Крит, но может покинуть Собор  ( page no longer available , searching web archives )  Info: The link is automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , (Delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church goes to Crete), June 15, 2016 (Russian).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.pravoslavie.ru  
  14. ↑ domradio.de: panorthodoxes-konzil-am-sunday-eroeffnet , June 18, 2016, accessed on August 22, 2016
  15. ↑ domradio.de: orthodox-kirche-sucht-mit-konzil-connection-die-modern , June 18, 2016, accessed on August 22, 2016