Posted on 06/03/2016 3:20:14 PM PDT by marshmallow
The press office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has made public the draft documents that will be discussed at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which is scheduled to begin on June 18 at the Orthodox Academy in Kolymvari, Crete.
The documents are entitled “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World,” “The Orthodox Diaspora,” “Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed,” “The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments,” “The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today,” and “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.”
“It is the first time in 1,200 years that 14 autocephalous Orthodox churches are meeting,” the press office stated. “Approximately 500 individuals will be part of this historic gathering, with a common desire to reinforce their relations and address contemporary spiritual and social challenges in the world.”
On June 1, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church announced its unanimous decision not to participate in the council unless it is postponed for a year.
Official Advance Documents (Ecumenical Patriarchate Press Office)
Something we need to hear more about in the Catholic Church.
On the edge of my seat for that one
This will be the Orthodox Church’s “Vatican II”.
>“The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today,”
I’d say keeping islam at bay and not supporting importing the cult of islam into free countries is well up the list of priorities.
If it’s anything like Vatican II, the council will come out saying that Muslims worship the same God as the Orthodox.
“This will be the Orthodox Church’s “Vatican II”.
Some clearly want that. But there are too many sounding the alarm. See... http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/93786.htm. The Bulgarians have already withdrawn. The Church of Antioch may skip it. The Russians have been cool at best toward this council and I think there is a 50/50 chance that they will not show up. In the end it will not become an Orthodox Vatican II because a council must be received by the whole Church to be valid. No one person has the authority to ratify a council.
Based on what I have seen so far, I’d say this council is already being looked upon with great skepticism by a large part of the Church.
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