Category: Holy and Great Council
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Human Beings or Human Persons?
by Paul Ladouceur One of the liveliest exchanges at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in June 2016 concerned which Greek words should be used in Council documents to refer to humans: anthrōpos (“human being”); or anthrōpino prosōpo (or simply prosōpon) (“human person”). The main protagonists in this debate were, in the […]
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The Holy and Great Council: Separating Fact from Fiction
by Evagelos Sotiropoulos As someone who traveled to Crete for the Holy and Great Council, who attended both Synodal Divine Liturgies (for Pentecost and the Sunday of All Saints) and who spoke with and heard from dozens of bishops, I am disturbed by the “malicious words” (cf. 3 John) that some are spewing against it. Having […]
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The Fruit of the Holy and Great Council
by Alberto Melloni The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church was concluded on Sunday June 26th at Kolymbari, Crete. Within eight days of work, all the typical practices in the history of Synods were experienced: doubt and fermentation, surprises and compromise, conflicts, such as the crisis and the impasse in the final days that brought […]
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Brexit and the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church: The Return of Nationalism
by Lucian N. Leustean During the last weeks of June 2016, two major international events took place, namely the ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’, on the island of Crete (June 16-27), and the British referendum that narrowly voted to leave the European Union (June 23). At first sight, the two events are […]
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War and Peace in Today’s World
by Nicholas Sooy “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World” offers timely statement on war, peace, and justice. The nature of conflict has evolved and the Church needs to counsel the faithful on the peacemaking vocation. This document offers an authoritative peace stance, and makes recommendations, but these are mostly too vague and […]
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The Paradox of Unanimity: The Holy and Great Council
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, with Gayle Woloschak We are on the eve of the Holy and Great Council, a topic that has weighed heavily in discussions on this blog in recent months. One major issue that has continually come up for discussion is the fact that the decisions of the Council are to be […]
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The Synaxis of Primates: A Prelude to Conciliarity and Unity
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, with Rev Dr. Alexander Rentel Amid a great storm of words and clouds of recriminations, first His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and then the other venerable presidents of the autocephalous Churches, landed at airports in Crete and stepped off their planes to clear and sunny days typical of this Greek […]
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A Plea for Pan-Orthodox Unity
George Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou As many readers of Public Orthodoxy well know, the fate of the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled to begin next week, is presently uncertain. At the time of writing, the Patriarchates of Bulgaria, Antioch, and Georgia have retracted their prior consent to take part in the Council, citing insurmountable […]
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Some Reflections on the Approaching Great and Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church
by Rev. Dr. Andrew Louth It seems to me of paramount importance that the Synod, as His All-Holiness asserts, should show that the Orthodox Church wants genuinely to communicate with the world. We have treasures to share, in the Gospel, and the wisdom acquired through many centuries of believers following in our Lord’s footsteps and […]