Russian Orthodox Church: recent council in Crete was ‘important’ but ‘not pan-Orthodox’
July 19, 2016
The recent Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church was not a pan-Orthodox council, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has said.
The Russian Orthodox Church—the largest of the 14 autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches—was one of four Orthodox churches that chose not to attend the council in the weeks preceding its opening.
“The Holy Synod determined that the Council, which took place in Crete, cannot be regarded as pan-Orthodox, and the documents it approved as expressing a pan-Orthodox consensus,” said Vladimir Legoyda, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, Legoyda described the council as “an important event in the history of the Orthodox Church council process” and that the Russian church’s biblical and theological commission will study its documents.
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Posted by: WNS3234 -
Jul. 19, 2016 9:26 PM ET USA
Talk about "byzantine politics" being played by the Moscow patriarchate and you have an incredibly spiteful stance taken against the Pan-Orthodox Synod but estacially against Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople. The surly rigor of the RO Church and its political allies (Ukraine, Serbia, and others) astonishes me, though it shouldn't. The claim of being the "Third Rome" is taken seriously enough to choke the Breath of the Holy Ghost.
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Posted by: garedawg -
Jul. 19, 2016 1:21 PM ET USA
So who decides whether a council is ecumenical? Hint,hint....
