Jerusalem, February 27, 2020
Photo: tsn.ua
The press release resulting from yesterday’s fraternal gathering in Amman, Jordan “thanked the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos for all the relentless efforts aimed at paving the way for dialogue and bringing brothers together in the precious spirit of unity.”
Following in this desire to bring brothers together in unity, Pat. Theophilos has also invited representatives of all Local Churches to gather for joint prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
This invitation was made public in yesterday’s press release, where the participating Churches—Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Poland, and Czech-Slovak—announced that they had already accepted Jerusalem’s call, saying:
The delegations embraced the call of their brother Patriarch Theophilos III to hold a prayer for the world, for an end to war, sickness and suffering, and for all the Christians as well as for the unity of the Orthodox Church. This prayer is to be held in the Mother Church, the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem, before the Holy Tomb of Christ, from which He rose and proclaims peace to the world.
According to Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, this joint prayer could happen before the end of the year.
The press release expresses hope not only for prayer, but also for continued dialogue: “The delegations agreed that they should gather as brothers, preferably before the end of this year, to strengthen the bonds of fellowship through prayer and dialogue.”
The statement also expresses the hope that the Patriarch of Constantinople will join his brother primates for prayer and dialogue: “The participants hope that His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with his known seniority of honour (πρεσβεια τιμήs) will join this dialogue along with his brother Primates.”
