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Sputniknews |26/11/16
Metropolitan
Sawa, the leader of the Polish Orthodox Church, said that the
celebrations of Patriarch Kirill’s anniversary prove that pan-Orthodox
unity is still intact.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Holy and
Great Council of the Orthodox Church, held in June in Crete, has not
affected the pan-Orthodox unity, despite the fact that a number of
churches refused to participate in it, Metropolitan Sawa, the leader of
the Polish Orthodox Church, said.
On Sunday, Patriarch Kirill of
Moscow and All Russia celebrated his 70th birthday. Representatives of
all local Orthodox churches attended the celebrations at the Cathedral
of Christ the Saviour in Moscow,
“Of course, we wanted all
churches to attend the Council, but we are all different. It hurt a
little that we had failed to completely consolidate ourselves,” the
metropolitan told RIA Novosti in an interview published on Friday.
According to the metropolitan, the celebrations of Patriarch Kirill’s
anniversary prove that pan-Orthodox unity is still intact. “All the
Orthodox have come! If the unity had been damaged, they would not have
come here,” Metropolitan Sawa said.
The Holy and Great
Council of the Orthodox Church, also known as the Pan-Orthodox Council,
was held on the Greek island of Crete on June 16-27 after over five
decades of preparations. The event was set to become the first meeting
of the heads all the Orthodox churches in more than 1,000 years.
Of
the 14 national Orthodox churches, four refused to attend the event,
including the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Georgian
and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches, as well as the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. The Serbian Church had
insisted on postponing the Council but eventually decided to send a
delegation to the meeting. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church
has declared the council of Orthodox churches in Greece an important
event, but clarified that documents adopted there cannot be seen as
pan-Orthodox.
