Source: CypLive
January 23, 2016
Patriarch Kirill personally led a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church at the beginning of Friday's Switzerland summit of representatives of the local Orthodox churches. The meeting is devoted to preparation for the Pan-Orthodox council, which may take place this year in Istanbul, according to preliminary data from RIA "Novosti."
As of December 2015, the Moscow Patriarchate did not rule out that the location of the council could change due to rising tensions between Russia and Turkey.
According to Volkov, the first hierarch in his speech suggested the possibility of a Pan-Orthodox coucnil on Mount Athos - "because, among other things, the Holy Mountain is a symbol of great importance for the Orthodox world."
The patriarch also drew attention to the persecution of clergy in Ukraine.
"Patriarch Kirill gave a detailed speech to the meeting in which he hit upon the situation with canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine. He drew attention to the seizure of churches in Ukraine, as well as threats from schismatics to the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Church," said the head of the patriarchal press service.
He added that as part of the official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church is the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Metropolitan of Kiev, Onufry.
"Metropolitan Onufry's presence at the pan-Orthodox meeting demonstrates the true unity of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine with all the fullness of universal Orthodoxy," said the priest.
In December it was reported that the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill could not agree with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on several important issues of the Pan-Orthodox council.
