The Holy and Great Council: Discussion

Post-Conciliar News

-Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and Litoral did not sign controversial document at Crete

-Interview with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos on the Holy and Great Synod (video)

-Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortys: “When and where did the Holy Fathers call heresies and schisms ‘Churches?’”

-Union of Orthodox Clergy and Monks of Greece: Crete Council not a real Council

-Metropolitan Athanasius of Limassol: My conscience would not allow me to sign

-Statement of the Secretariat of the Holy Synod of Antioch, Balamand, 27 June 2016. The Council of Crete is a Pre-Synodical Conference

-Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpatkos describes problems with documents adopted on Crete

-Seven Metropolitans withheld signatures from Pan-Orthodox Council documents

Post-Conciliar Articles

-Reflecting on the Message of the Holy and Great Council by Fr. Ted Bobosh

-I did not sign the text "Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World" by Met. Athanasius of Limassol

-The So-Called "Great" Orthodox Council by Archimandrite Gregorios Stephan

-Why I did not sign the text “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World” by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Initial Sorrowful Observations Regarding the Holy and Great Synod by Met. Seraphim of Piraeus

-The Council after the Council by Nicholas Sooy

Official Council Documents

-Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

-Message of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

-Holy and Great Council: The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today

-Holy and Great Council: Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed

-Holy and Great Council: The Orthodox Diaspora

-Holy and Great Council: The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments

-Holy and Great Council: The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World

-Holy and Great Council: Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World

Council Proceedings

-Participants in the Council on Crete cannot come to consensus on one document

-Video: Crete Council Daily Briefing for June 24

-VIDEO: Crete Council Daily Briefing for June 23

-Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus accused bishops, theologians, and laity critical of Holy and Great Council of fundamentalism in speech at opening of Crete Synaxis

-VIDEO: Crete Council Daily Briefing for June 22 with Met. Alexander of Nigeria

-To whom should the Orthodox diaspora answer?—discussion at Crete Council

-Representative of Constantinople does not believe Orthodox Church “One”

-Bartholomew to Ieronymos: I am not claiming the “New Territories"

-Participants in Crete forum propose to make the Council a permanent Orthodox body

-Correction concerning the approval of the text “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World”

-Address for the Opening Session of the Holy and Great Council by His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland

-VIDEO: Crete council daily briefing for June 21 with Abp. Job of Telmessos

-Patriarch of Romania: "Synodality must be a rule at pan-Orthodox level, not just at local level”

-First conciliar document unanimoulsy approved

-Great and Holy Council: Summary of Day One press briefing

-Pentecost Homily of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew on Crete

Pre-Conciliar News

-Two responses from Antiochian Patriarchate to statements made concerning it at Council press briefings

-Patriarchate of Georgia: We are Steadfast in Our Decision which is Based on Dogmatic - not Political - Reasons

-Metropolitan Ignatius: Antioch staying home also because of documents, not only Qatar

-There was no intention of boycotting the Council on Crete by Fr. Alexander Volkov

-Council Message could codify four new Ecumenical Councils

-Antioch never agreed for the Holy Council to Meet!

-What Does an Ecumenical Council Look Like? by Fr. Lawrence Farley

-Pan-Orthodox Council will not be legitimate if held without some Churches - Metropolitan Hilarion

-Russian Church insists on postponing the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Georgian Patriarch explains why they will not participate in the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Russian Orthodox Church won't take part in work on Pan-Orthodox Council message — source

-Russian Orthodox Church likely not to attend Pan-Orthodox Council

-Georgian Orthodox Church will not take part in Pan-Orthodox Council

-Delegation of Serbian Orthodox Church will go to Crete, but could leave the Council

-Russian Church insists on postponing the Pan-Orthodox Council

-On the situation caused by the refusal of several Local Orthodox Churches to participate in the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

-Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to Primates and representatives of Local Orthodox Churches who have assembled in Crete

-The works of the small Synaxis of the Primates have begun. The Message of the Holy and Great Council will be addressed today

-Questions and Answers on the Pan-Orthodox Council by Fr. Peter Heers

Antiochian Orthodox Church

-The So-Called "Great" Orthodox Council by Archimandrite Gregorios Stephan

-Statement of the Secretariat of the Holy Synod of Antioch, Balamand, 27 June 2016. The Council of Crete is a Pre-Synodical Conference

-Two responses from Antiochian Patriarchate to statements made concerning it at Council press briefings

-Metropolitan Ignatius: Antioch staying home also because of documents, not only Qatar

-On the Coming Great and Holy Council by Met. Georges Khodr

-The Orthodox Churches' Accelerating Crises: The Fractiousness of the Orthodox Churches and the Agenda of the Holy Spirit by Carol Saba

-The "Great and Holy" Council: An Analysis, Questions, and Impressions: A Letter to His Beatitude, Our Father Patriarch John X and the Members of the Holy Synod of Antioch regarding the Great Council by Archimandrite Touma Bitar

-Statement of the Secretariat of the Holy Synod of Antioch on Decision of Ecumenical Patriarchate

- Antiochian Orthodox Church will not participate in Pan-Orthodox Council until issues are resolved - Antiochian Secretariat

-Why Antioch did not Sign the Decision to Convoke the Council by Met. Siluan (Muci)

-Antioch never agreed for the Holy Council to Meet!

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

-Bulgarian Orthodox Church: Outside the Orthodox Church "there are no other churches, only heresies and schisms"

-Patriarchate of Bulgaria: On the Pan-Orthodox Synod and the Appearance of Heresy as a Gift from God so that Orthodoxy can be proclaimed by Dr. Desislava Panayotova

-Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech and all clergy of his diocese oppose document of the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Bulgarian Orthodox Church withdraws from Pan-Orthodox Council in Crete

-Statement of the Chancellery of the Bulgarian Holy Synod Concerning the Pan-Orthodox Council

-“Changes to the Pan-Orthodox documents are now practically impossible, but we need a working council”: Interview with Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech

-Metropolitan Gabriel: “We decided not to go to Crete independently and according to conscience”

Cypriot Orthodox Church

-I did not sign the text "Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World" by Met. Athanasius of Limassol

-Metropolitan Athanasius of Limassol: My conscience would not allow me to sign

-Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus accused bishops, theologians, and laity critical of Holy and Great Council of fundamentalism in speech at opening of Crete Synaxis

-Orthodox Church of Cyprus has proposed amendments to the text “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian world”

-Metropolitan of Limassol: "What unity are we talking about? Those who departed from the Church are heretics and schismatics"

Ecumenical Patriarchate

-Representative of Constantinople does not believe Orthodox Church “One”

-Ecumenical Patriarch: “The Holy and Great Synod is of direct and vital interest both for the Orthodox, and for the rest of the Christian world”

-Ecumenical Patriarchate Provides Resources for Holy and Great Council

-Message from His All-Holiness on the Holy and Great Council

-The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Issue of Qatar

-Constantinople refuses to discuss proposals of local Churches

-Pentecost Homily of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew on Crete

Georgian Orthodox Church

-Patriarchate of Georgia: We are Steadfast in Our Decision which is Based on Dogmatic - not Political - Reasons

-VIDEO: Georgian Orthodox Church rejects document on ecumenism drafted for the Great Council, 2016

-Georgian Church Responds to Ecumenical Patriarchate Cleric's Accusations

-Meeting of the Holy Synod of the Church of Georgia on the Upcoming Council

-Georgian Orthodox Church will not take part in Pan-Orthodox Council

-Georgian Patriarch explains why they will not participate in the Pan-Orthodox Council

Greek Orthodox Church

-Interview with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos on the Holy and Great Synod (video)

-Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortys: “When and where did the Holy Fathers call heresies and schisms ‘Churches?’”

-Union of Orthodox Clergy and Monks of Greece: Crete Council not a real Council

-Initial Sorrowful Observations Regarding the Holy and Great Synod by Met. Seraphim of Piraeus

-Letter to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on the texts proposed for approval by the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Letter to the Holy Synod of Greece Concerning Preparations for the Upcoming Great and Holy Council by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Third Letter to the Holy Synod of Greece Concerning the Draft Documents Prepared for the Upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpatkos: Hierarchs of Greek Church united in their position on eve of Pan-Orthodox Council

-Just before the Holy and Great Council by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Why I did not sign the text “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World” by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos

-Metropolitan of New Smyrna: "It cannot be considered a pan-Orthodox council in which not every bishop participates"

- On the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church by Met. Nikolaos of Mesogaias

-Metropolitan Germanos of Eleia on Documents of the Upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council

-Greece: Another hierarch appeals to the Holy Synod concerning the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Greek priest and theologian speaks out against draft document of Pan-Orthodox Council

-Conference dedicated to the problems of the Pan-Orthodox Council held in Greece

-Observations on the Text Prepared for the Pan-Orthodox Council: “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World” by Dr. Demetrios Tselengides

-A Second Intervention-Confession of Faith: On the Document "Organization and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council" by Dr. Demetrios Tselengides

-Can a Conference of Orthodox Bishops Impart Ecclesiality to the Heterodox?: The Challenge of the Upcoming Great Council by Dr. Demetrios Tselengides

- A word about the "common cup" and the steps to unity of Orthodoxy with Heterodoxy by Fr. Peter Heers

-From the Second Vatican Council (1965) to the Pan-Orthodox Council (2016): Signposts on the Way to Crete by Fr. Peter Heers

-The Recognition of the Baptism of the Heterodox as the Basis for a New Ecclesiology (In Step with Vatican II): A paper delivered at the Theological-Academic Conference "The Great and Holy Council: Great Preparation without Expectations," March 23, 2016 in Piraeus, Greece by Fr. Peter Heers

-Conclusions of the Theological-Academic Conference: The Holy and Great Council: With Great Preparation but Without Expectations

-VIDEO: Fr. Theodore Zisis on the Upcoming Great and Holy Council, Part 1

-VIDEO: Fr. Theodore Zisis on the Upcoming Great and Holy Council, Part 2

-VIDEO: Fr. Theodore Zisis on the Upcoming Great and Holy Council, Parts 3 and 4

Jerusalem Orthodox Church

-The Pan-Orthodox Council: the Patriarch of Jerusalem expresses his willingness to make concessions to the Church of Antioch

Polish Orthodox Church

-Address for the Opening Session of the Holy and Great Council by His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland

Romanian Orthodox Church

-Patriarch Daniel: “The Future Pan-Orthodox Synod represents an Important Historical Event for the Development of Conciliarity on a Pan-Orthodox Level”

- Appeal to the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church concerning Pan-Orthodox Council

-Patriarch of Romania: "Synodality must be a rule at pan-Orthodox level, not just at local level”

Russian Orthodox Church

-There was no intention of boycotting the Council on Crete by Fr. Alexander Volkov

-Draft documents of the future Pan-Orthodox Council in their present form do not violate the purity of the Orthodox faith, the ROC Council of Bishops states

-Patriarch Kirill: Any unilateral actions in granting autocephaly should be excluded

-Patriarch Kirill: There was no question of any union of the Orthodox Church with the non-Orthodox

-In course of preparations for Pan-Orthodox Council, most of Russian Orthodox Church’s proposals approved

-Patriarch Kirill: We do not call the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council ecumenical

-Message of the Council of Bishops to clergy, monastics and all faithful members of ROC

-Seminar on Pan-Orthodox Council takes place at Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies

-Conference on the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council at St. Tikhon's University

-Fr. George Maximov offers theological reflection on document of June Pan-Orthodox Council

- Address of Metropolitan Benjamin of Vladivostok and Primorsk on Orthodox participation in the World Council of Churches

-The Holy Synod of Bishops Deliberates on Problems Arising in Preparation for the Pan-Orthodox Council

-If problems on way to Pan-Orthodox Council are not resolved, it is better postponed - Metropolitan Hilarion

-ROCOR HOLY SYNOD on Pan-Orthodox Council Texts: Communication of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to the Clerics and Faithful—13 April 2016.

-Russian Orthodox Church likely not to attend Pan-Orthodox Council

-Russian Orthodox Church won't take part in work on Pan-Orthodox Council message — source

-Emergency meeting of Holy Synod of Russian Orthodox Church to take place on Monday

-Russian Church insists on postponing the Pan-Orthodox Council

-On the situation caused by the refusal of several Local Orthodox Churches to participate in the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

-Pan-Orthodox Council will not be legitimate if held without some Churches - Metropolitan Hilarion

-Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Voices of the Churches should not be disregarded

-VIDEO: ‘Unity cannot be imposed on churches’ – Russian Orthodox Church spokesman to RT

-Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to Primates and representatives of Local Orthodox Churches who have assembled in Crete

Serbian Orthodox Church

-Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and Litoral did not sign controversial document at Crete

-Serbian Orthodox Holy Synod seeks postponement of Pan-Orthodox Council

-Serbian Church to participate in Pan-Orthodox Council

-Delegation of Serbian Orthodox Church will go to Crete, but could leave the Council

Ukrainian Orthodox Chuch

- Address of the brothers of the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra and of the Holy Spirit skete of the Lavra in connection with the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council

-Statement of the Press Service of the Diocese of Odessa

-To find the role of the Church in the modern world, without compromising our principles. UOC primate on the tasks of the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Metropolitan Onufry: “This meeting already won’t be a Great and Holy Pan-Orthodox Council”

Mt. Athos

-Holy Monasteries of Mt. Athos repond to documents prepared for Pan-Orthodox Council

-Monks of Karakallou write concerning June Council documents

-Open letter of the Kinot of Holy Mount Athos to the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I

-Athonite Monks on the Pan-Orthodox Council by Athanasios Zoitakis

Synaxis of the Primates

-Keynote Address By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew To the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches (Geneva 22-01-2016)

-Homily By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew During the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Paul (Chambésy-Geneva, January 24, 2016)

-Speech of His Beatitude Theophilos of Jerusalem at the Beginning of the Deliberations of the Primates

-Patriarch Kirill addresses the Synaxis of Primates of Local Orthodox Churches

- Address of Serbian Patriarch at the Synaxis of the primates of Local Orthodox Churches in Geneva

- Pan-Orthodox Council not to address Ukraine issue, transition to unified calendar

-Primates of Orthodox Churches for reorganization of global economy

- Official announcement of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches

Documents to be Considered at the Council

- Pan-Orthodox Council: Organization and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

- Pan-Orthodox Council: Autonomy and the Means of Proclaiming It

- Pan-Orthodox Council: Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World

- Pan-Orthodox Council: The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today

- Pan-Orthodox Council: The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World

- Pan-Orthodox Council: The Sacrament of Marriage and Its Impediments

Articles on the Pan-Orthodox Council

-Orthodox Primates Gather To Proclaim Unity by Evagelos Sotiropoulos

-The Little Ones by Nicholas Sooy

-The issue of Orthodox Diaspora to be considered at the Pan-Orthodox Council

-The Holy and Great Council: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff by Evagelos Sotiropoulos

-The Holy and Great Council and the Hidden Work of God by Fr. Stephen Freeman

-Crisis Around the Council: On What Does Constantinople Diplomacy Depend? by Andrei Rogozinski

-Pan-Orthodox Alarm by Vyacheslav Nikonov

-Primates, or Popes? Is there an attempt, on account of the Great Synod, to vest the Primates with Papal power? by  Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos

-Harbinger of Storm or Passage to Calm? by Archpriest Patrick B. O’Grady

-What Does an Ecumenical Council Look Like? by Fr. Lawrence Farley