Tag: Holy and Great Council

Orthodox Reformation
Theology

Orthodox Reformation

As the Orthodox Church prepares to convene its Holy and Great Council, the Protestant world is getting ready to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which will be celebrated next year. While at first glance these two events seem to have nothing in common, they are linked by a common desire to bear witness…

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Innovation in the Guise of Tradition <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'>Anti-Ecumenist Efforts to Derail the Great and Holy Council</span>
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Holy and Great Council

Innovation in the Guise of Tradition
Anti-Ecumenist Efforts to Derail the Great and Holy Council

Image: Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus The documents approved by the Primates of the Church for the Great and Holy Council are not particularly controversial. They are the product of consensus, negotiated over decades, that often repeat previous declarations rather than addressing the more challenging questions that face the modern Church. The one possible exception is…

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Holy and Great Council

The Great and Holy Council and the Implications of the Consensus Method

by Peter C. Bouteneff The document on “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World” was adopted as a draft text last October by the 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference in Chambésy. Its status going forward is not entirely clear. Misgivings about the text have led to rumors of its outright rejection…

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Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Holy and Great Council

The Great and Holy Council of Crete and Orthodox-Catholic Relations

by Paul L. Gavrilyuk The forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council of Crete, planned for June 2016, will ratify several important documents, including “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.” The latest draft of the “Relations” document was adopted by the Fifth Pan-Orthodox Conference in October 2015 and is available online in different…

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Ecclesiology, Global Orthodoxy

Phyletism and the Case for Ukrainian Autocephaly

by Nicholas Denysenko In my previous post, I introduced the Ukrainian problem and its significance for the forthcoming Great and Holy Council to be held in Crete in June 2016. Having argued that the movement for autocephaly in Ukraine originated nearly one-hundred years ago and is beginning to mature only in this post-soviet period, a…

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Ecclesiology, Global Orthodoxy

The Great and Holy Council and the Ukrainian Problem

by Nicholas Denysenko As the Orthodox Churches continue preparations for the Great and Holy Council, which will take place June 16-27, 2016, in Crete, one of the primary unresolved problems is the schism of the Church in Ukraine. While the council itself did not formally address the Ukrainian matter, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow stated that…

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Why Did Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Agree to Meet with Pope Francis?
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Global Orthodoxy

Why Did Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Agree to Meet with Pope Francis?

We live in historic times. About a week ago, the leaders of the Orthodox Churches announced their commitment to hold the Pan-Orthodox Council on the island of Crete in mid-June 2016. The failed attempts to organize such a council for more than fifty years have been attributed to a variety of factors, most notably the…

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Ecclesiology

By What Authority? Conciliar Authority in the Church

by Gregory Tucker The long-awaited pan-Orthodox council will be upon us in a few short months. If all goes ahead as announced, representatives of each of the fourteen universally-recognized autocephalous Orthodox Churches will meet on the island of Crete for two weeks at the feast of Pentecost to discuss and either agree or refuse several…

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Ecclesiology, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations

The Great Synod of the Orthodox Church and Christian Unity: Another View

by Athanasios Giocas Orthodox Christians throughout the world exhibit a range of different attitudes towards other Christians and with respect to the cause of inter-Christian relations more generally. It is commonly assumed however that the Holy and Great Council planned for 2016 is meant to reaffirm the case for Christian reunification as well as the…

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Can Anything Good Come out of a Pan-Orthodox Council? <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'> A Response to Detractors</span>
Ecclesiology, Global Orthodoxy

Can Anything Good Come out of a Pan-Orthodox Council?
A Response to Detractors

The Patriarchate of Constantinople has been at the forefront of planning a Great and Holy Council, which will gather together the leaders of all fourteen self-governing Orthodox Churches. While the Council has its share of supporters, there are influential groups within the Orthodox Church that oppose the Council for political and theological reasons. What are…

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Global Orthodoxy

New Orthodox Geopolitics

by Rev. Dr. Nicolas Kazarian The Orthodox Church is a complex geopolitical reality, and does not constitute a homogenous block. On the contrary, the rise of irredentism during the 19th century has created the basis for constant fragmentation throughout the 20th century. A series of historical events have reduced the territory of Orthodox communities, leading…

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Modern Challenges to Traditional Orthodox Perspectives on Marriage
Liturgical Life, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Modern Challenges to Traditional Orthodox Perspectives on Marriage

(This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on canonical impediments to marriage.) It will no doubt be useful for the Council to focus on harmonizing canonical impediments to marriage—especially marriages where one…

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Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations

Ecumenical Relations and the Pan-Orthodox Council

“A household divided against itself falls.” This seems an apt proof-text for the 1920 encyclical of the Patriarch of Constantinople regarding ecumenical relations in his day, words ratified some forty years later by leaders preparing for the Great and Holy Council, and carried into our day by the selection of this topic as essential for…

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Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations

The 2016 Pan-Orthodox Council and Ecumenical Relations

(This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on ecumenical relations.) Ecumenism was prominent in the early preparatory stages of the Council. How much ecumenical fervor endures today?

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Orthodoxy and Modernity, Theology

Political Nestorianism and the Politics of Theosis

In addressing how the Orthodox Churches in a pan-Orthodox voice and in pan-Orthodox action realize justice, freedom, brotherhood and love among peoples, what I would like to suggest is that the Orthodox churches will not contribute to such a realization until they abandon what I would call political Nestorianism.  As we all know, the sin…

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Orthodoxy and Modernity

Religion and Science as a Pastoral Issue

The science-religion interface is an area that dovetails with the need for love among peoples, leading to a consideration of pastoral issues. In addition, the issue of justice is very tightly tied to technology, both through those who have availability of technology and those who may choose to limit technology because of costs and resources….

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Public Orthodoxy seeks to promote conversation by providing a forum for diverse perspectives on contemporary issues related to Orthodox Christianity. The positions expressed in the articles on this website are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University