For the next week, hierarchs from most of the world’s individual
Orthodox Christian Churches will convene for a Holy and Great
Pan-Orthodox Council on the island of Crete, an event that many have
been calling Orthodoxy’s Vatican II.
This council has been making headlines in the Western press and has been covered by First Things and the Catholic press.
Nevertheless, many American readers—due to a lack of familiarity with
Orthodox Christianity—may not grasp the full significance of the event,
which has implications for both geopolitics and Christian ecumenism.
For that reason, I reached out to Fr. John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and theological advisor to the
Ecumenical Patriarch, and asked him to shed some light on the issues
surrounding the council.
The council’s prospects have been beset by strife among particular
Orthodox churches, with a total of four—prominently including the
Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate—pulling out of
participation at the last minute. This strife itself speaks to a need
for greater understanding of Orthodoxy in the West. However, since Russia’s return to
the world stage and its emergence during Putin’s third presidential
term as the global standard bearer for “traditional values” and social
conservatism, the Russian Orthodox Church—headed by Patriarch Kirill
I—has played a prominent political role.
In this stance, Moscow sometimes finds itself at odds with the
Ecumenical Patriarchate at Constantinople, the see whose head—currently
Patriarch Bartholomew I—is recognized as the first among equals—although
it is important to note that he is not the equivalent of a pope.
Orthodox Christians cherish the concept of conciliarity, however
difficult it is to achieve in practice. Their split with Rome in 1054 was precipitated at least as much by the issue of papal authority as by other theological concerns..
Some see Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill’s recent meeting
with Pope Francis in Cuba as a power grab within the Orthodox world.
Certainly it was an attempt to shore up Russia’s assumed geopolitical
role as the standard bearer for global social conservatism, which has
attracted fellow travelers from the United States such as President and
CEO of the Billy Graham Foundation, Franklin Graham, whom Patriarch
Kirill recently declared a “confessor of the faith.”
The sending of
Catholic observers to the Pan-Orthodox Council by Pope Francis,
however, represents a more authentic attempt at ecumenism that does not
depend on hardline culture wars in the public sphere. In recent years,
the destruction of ancient Christian communities in the Middle East has
also been a pressing issue. It is also of note that at the height of the
20th-century ecumenical movement, Orthodox theologians played a
prominent role. For all these reasons and more, American readers
interested in religion and politics should familiarize themselves with
Orthodox Christianity.
This interview with Fr. John, in which he relates some of the history
behind this event and explains its singular significance for the
Orthodox world, for Christian ecumenism, and for contemporary
geopolitics, is a good place to start.
While the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Council has been in its
planning stages for almost 60 years, many readers may not immediately
grasp the full meaning of the event for Orthodox Christianity. How would
you summarize the significance and purpose of the Council? What were
its original goals and how have they shifted over time? Finally, after
so many decades of preparation, what came together to allow for this
summer’s convening?
The Orthodox Church is and claims to be the church of the councils,
tracing the authenticity of its faith and the authority of its doctrines
to the early church councils of the first millennium and even to the
first apostolic council in Jerusalem, as described in the Book of Acts.
However, a series of historical events and circumstances during the
second millennium of the Christian era (including the great schism
between the Eastern and Western church, the tragic campaigns of the
crusades, the Ottoman subjugation of much of the Eastern region, the
oppressive Soviet regime of the 20th century, and so on) led to the
gradual disappearance of the pan-Orthodox conciliar structure in
exchange for a more defensive, even ethnic element in order to survive.
Pan-Orthodox Councils were largely maintained through councils convened
by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which included primates and other
hierarchs from local churches, whenever they could attend.
In the early 20th century, the Ecumenical Patriarchate initiated a
movement among the Orthodox Churches to work toward a Pan-Orthodox
council. In the 1960s, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras revived the
dream and organized several Pre-Conciliar conferences, which discussed a
potential agenda and laid the foundation for a forthcoming Holy and
Great Council. But even after almost 60 years, the council was still
forthcoming. It was the current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew that
encouraged his brother Primates of the autocephalous Orthodox
Churches—14 of them in all—to work toward finally realizing this dream
from 1992 through 2016. In 2014, all of the Orthodox Primates signed
their commitment to convene the council on the feast of Pentecost 2016.
In January, 2016, the same Primates affirmed and signed that the venue
for this council would be Crete.
The original goals were entirely pastoral and centered on the
encounter of the Orthodox Church with the changing modern world, topics
that required Pan-Orthodox action. Here the goals had a two-fold focus:
first, the situation of Orthodox Christians in the traditional Orthodox
countries and the changing situation in the advent of the modern world,
and second, the condition of Orthodox Christians who had emigrated and
immigrated to the New World and who found themselves in pluralistic
societies. For example, the early meetings considered ways to reconcile
the calendar of the Church with the newly adopted secular calendar.
Likewise, they considered ways to adapt fasting regulations, originally
developed in a Mediterranean context, to the new locales in which
Orthodox Christians found themselves. Also, the early activity attempted
to come to a common position on relations with other Christian groups,
such as the Anglicans, Old Catholics, and the ancient Oriental Orthodox
Churches. In the 1960s, the different meetings also sought a common
approach on relations with Roman Catholics especially in light of
Vatican II. During all this time, these topics continued to develop and
change in light of changing circumstances and demands faced by the
Churches.
Such a council, then, would be the first Pan-Orthodox gathering since
the first millennium. Councils to be sure have met in the intervening
centuries, but not with this scope of representation and not in the
modern era. Additionally, it has been over a thousand years since the
Orthodox Church met in council that would most closely approximate this
one in terms of size and representative-ness.
Could you tell us a little about your own role, and that of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in the organizing of the Pan-Orthodox
Council?
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, responding to its role and
responsibility to coordinate Orthodox unity, has worked tirelessly
toward planning for, preparing, organizing and convening the Holy and
Great Council with the consensus and collaboration of all of the 14
Orthodox Churches. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is, therefore,
hosting (because the island of Crete is under the immediate jurisdiction
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) and presiding over this unique and
unprecedented council. My specific role in this event is to serve as the
director of the press office for the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
After Bulgaria requested the postponement of the Council on
June 1, the Moscow Patriarchate called for a pre-conciliar meeting to
take place no later than June 10. What are the primary concerns of the
churches that have refused to participate, and what is the position of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate on their concerns? Why did the Ecumenical
Patriarchate refuse Moscow’s request? With Antioch refusing to
participate at this time as well, and Moscow likely to join Bulgaria and
Antioch, what is the current mood on Crete and in the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, and what might the Council still accomplish despite these
complications?
The question is wrongly posed. I’ll explain why. It isn’t appropriate
or even accurate to speak of Churches refusing to attend or of
Constantinople’s refusal to respond. In fact, only months ago, in
January 2016, every single one of the Orthodox Primates and
representatives from all of the 14 Orthodox Churches signed that they
would convene and attend the Holy and Great Council in June. Indeed,
they signed several documents, every single page of those documents and
even every single page of the translations of those documents—literally
hundreds of signatures of commitment. At the same time, the January
meeting was an affirmation and ratification of a similar meeting of all
Orthodox Primates and all Orthodox Churches in March 2014, where they
first approved and signed that they would meet for the Holy and Great
Council in June 2016.
So the majority of the Orthodox Churches were surprised, perplexed
and even shocked that the Churches of Bulgaria, Georgia, Antioch and
Russia changed their minds about attending at the very last minute (less
than two weeks before the opening of the council), especially when
absolutely nothing had transpired in the meanwhile!
The current mood in Crete is peaceful and determined. The Churches
that have arrived for the official opening are already working on the
draft message to be published at the end of the council. They are, of
course, also saddened that some Churches have created this turmoil by
changing their minds for no apparent (or at least no justifiable)
reason.
So the council will proceed and convene, while its decisions will be
authoritative and binding, just as with the decisions of any council in
the line of authentic councils through history, although it will also
undergo the traditional process of reception by the people of God, the
faithful believers of the Orthodox Church.
Regarding Moscow’s request for the Ecumenical Patriarch to convene a
special Synaxis of the Primates, His All-Holiness did not respond
affirmatively to this request because there was a Synaxis of the
Primates already scheduled prior to the Council. This was and still is
the appropriate moment for the Primates to voice their concerns.
Could you expound a little on the geopolitical and
interconfessional significance of the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox
Council? How important is it that Pope Francis is sending Catholic
observers to the Council? Will observers of other confessions be
present? How will the Council address or not address problems with
geopolitical implications that go beyond Orthodox Christians, such as
the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and the Ukraine crisis?
The Holy and Great Council will gather together Orthodox hierarchs
from all over the world, from the venerable sees of ancient Orthodox
Christianity, Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, and
from traditional Orthodox countries, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Albania,
Poland, and the Czech Lands and Slovakia, but also hierarchs who serve
in parts of the globe not usually associated with Orthodox Christianity,
from Asia, Africa, Western Europe, and from North America.
In and of itself, such a universal gathering represents a singular
and significant event in the life of the Church demonstrating the new
global reach of Orthodox Christianity. The council should focus the
attention of the Churches away from solely parochial and local concerns
to a broader perspective on Church life.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the global issues affecting the
world will also be a central and critical part of discussions at the
Holy and Great Council. All of the ancient Patriarchates
(Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) and the ancient
Church of Cyprus are facing the tragedy of persecution and martyrdom
among their faithful. At the same time, they are the Churches right in
the middle of the refugee crisis as well as the Churches that have the
most experience, and also the most to contribute from coexisting
alongside their Muslim brothers and sisters—especially in Palestine, the
Middle East and Northern Africa.
The situation in Ukraine is more painful inasmuch as the struggle has
deteriorated to a civil war between Orthodox Christians—often behind
the face of Orthodoxy. We would like to see more pastoral compassion and
less political posturing on the part of the Churches.
Clearly, the presence of observers from other Christian Churches is
not only an important reminder of the open relations and dialogue that
many of the Orthodox Churches have with other Christian communions but
also a powerful symbol of our aspiration toward reconciliation and unity
among all of Christ’s disciples.
What do you consider to be the most serious problems facing
Orthodox Christians in the modern world, and how might the Council work
toward their resolution?
The purpose of the Holy and Great Council is to bring the Orthodox
Churches together—for the first time in history on such a comprehensive
and representative level—in order to present a more unified profile and
provide a more credible witness in the world.
The problem is that the 14 Orthodox Churches have developed at a
different pace from one another. For example, the Ecumenical Patriarch
had created positive and constructive relations with other Christian
Churches and ecumenical organizations for many decades, while other
Churches (such as the Church of Bulgaria and the Church of Georgia) have
hesitated and steered away from such relationships and have therefore
become a more isolated community in the Christian world—feeling
uncomfortable about opening up to dialogue with other churches or
religions.
Therefore, the Holy and Great Council is an opportunity for these
diverse Orthodox Churches—united sacramentally and doctrinally, but
fragmented in so many other ways—to establish some helpful guidelines
about the importance of embracing the world instead of retreating into a
ghetto.
Will the Council address the role of women in the church and
consider the legitimacy of deaconesses? Will female observers be
present?
The role of women and the order of deaconesses are not on the agenda
of this council. There was, in fact, some discussion over both issues
over the years and more recently. But in order to settle on a number of
topics that would bring the churches together rather than seem to
provoke some of the more conservative ones, the list was reduced to just
six topics: more internal ones (like marriage, fasting and autonomy),
more administrative questions (like the diaspora, the organization and
greater unity of Orthodox Churches in countries outside their “native”
homelands), and more external matters (the mission of the Orthodox
Church in the world as well as relationship of the Orthodox Church with
other Christian churches and other religions).
I am not privy to whether women observers will attend; but I do know
that official women advisors will be present at the council. Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew set the standard (not always met by other
churches, but still providing a model for imitation) by including two
women among his delegation’s formal advisors. These are the Rev. Mother
Theoxenia, Abbess of the Monastery of the Life-giving Spring, and Dr.
Elizabeth Prodromou, Visiting Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution
at The Fletcher School for Law & Diplomacy (Tufts University).
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know or any thoughts you would like to leave them with?
I would like to underline that—while it may appear strange to many
Western believers or others—the messy situation that is sometimes
reflected in the events leading up to the convocation of this council is
not without its meaning and merit. Unity is a messy reality. There is
no top-down imposition of authority in the Orthodox Church. We are a
conciliar church. And since we have not met in council for so many
hundreds of years, it is difficult, awkward and even frightening to take
the first step toward meeting in council.
But meeting in council is precisely what Orthodox bishops should be
doing. Bringing their divisions to council is precisely the method to
resolve them. And the existence of division is not a reason to refuse
participation in council. It is the very reason why churches and their
bishops are obliged to meet in council.