Moscow, December 19, 2019
Photo: thenewgreece.com
Last month, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem invited his brother primates of the Local Orthodox Churches to gather in Jordan to discuss the burning issue of Church unity against the background of the ongoing Ukrainian Church crisis.
It is now known that Synaxis is proposed to be held in February of next year, as confirmed by Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Church’s Department for External Church Relations, reports RIA-Novosti.
However, as Fr. Nikolai noted, it remains to be seen what the reaction will be from most of the Local Churches.
The day after Pat. Theophilos announced his brotherly invitation, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens turned it down, stating that he would not attend any council not called by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Conversely, the Holy Synod of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia adopted a resolution in support of the Patriarch’s initiative at its most recent session on Tuesday, December 17, in which it also notes that the Synaxis is planned for February. The Czech-Slovak Church is thus the first to officially accept the Patriarch of Jerusalem’s invitation.
