(Vatican Radio) In ten daysʼ time, a historic meeting of leaders of the worldʼs Orthodox Churches is due to begin on the Greek island of Crete. More than 350 bishops are expected to participate in the ʽHoly and Great Council of the Orthodox Churchʼ which will be chaired by the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Preparations have been in the works for several decades, but have intensified over recent months as Patriarch Bartholomew sought consensus on key documents from the 14 self-governing or ʽAutocephalousʼ local Orthodox Churches. It has been an uphill and difficult task requiring delicate balances of interest, compromises and concessions, yet even over the past few days two Orthodox leaders have threatened to withdraw from the eight day encounter.
Professor George Demakopoulos is co-director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University in the United States. He spoke to Nicolas Papachristou about the difficult process of preparing for this Council and the way it may help to strengthen relations with other Christians, including the Catholic Church:
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Professor Demakopoulos notes that in the medieval world there was an emperor who could force leaders of the different Orthodox Churches to come to Council, even if they didn’t get along with each other. But without any "external or supervisory body" forcing today’s leaders to attend, the Ecumenical Patriarch has had to "make a series of concessions" in order to gather the support he needed for this meeting.
Professor Demakopoulos explains what this means in practical terms: firstly, that nothing will occur at the Council which does not have the consensus of all 14 Autocephalous Churches. Secondly, he says in order to avoid any of the Churches vetoing any of the documents, they have become "rather lukewarm" in order to guarantee consensus. Although there is no historical precedent for this model, he says, it could be a positive way of working for the Orthodox Churches in the post-Imperial world.
Relations with other Christians
Asked about the document regarding relations with the rest of the Christian world, Professor Demakopoulos says that "before the Orthodox Church can move forward in any profound way with other Christians, there has to be greater consensus with the 14 Autocephalous Churches".
He notes that certain fringe groups in Greece and elsewhere fear greater unity and vision in this area because "they have staked their identity" on not being Roman Catholic, which, he adds, is "out of step with the tradition" of what it means to be Orthodox. Though these are small groups, he says, they are very vocal and they are very fearful of greater consensus over the value of the ecumenical movement.
Nevertheless, he notes that "one of the most profound statements" in all of the six documents under discussion at the Council is a single sentence in the one on relations with other Christians which says, for the first time, that "anti-ecumenical obstructionism is condemned".