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Kolymvari, Crete, Greece
15 June 2016
15 June 2016
Holy and Great Council Press Release
His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Crete on 15 June, expressing his “joy of fulfillment of our historical mission” and urging the Orthodox Church across the world to join him.
The Holy and Great Council, he said, is “our sacred mission.” Although the joy of the historic events are clouded by the decision of some churches not to attend, “the
responsibility for their decision lies with those same churches and
their primates, since, just five months ago, at the Synaxis of the
Orthodox Primates in Geneva, we made a decision and put our signatures
to it, that we should come to Crete in June and realize this vision held
over many years, which all our churches cherish, to declare and
proclaim the unity of our Orthodox Church, and to examine and reach a
common resolution of the problems that are of concern to the Orthodox
world.”
It is not too late for those churches to reconsider, he added, “even
at this very last moment, and honor their signatures and come to Crete,
where, along with the joy of the fulfillment of our historical mission,
we shall also have the joy of partaking of the hospitality and nobility
of all Cretans, from the most elderly among them, to the youngest
child.”
His
All-Holiness also expressed his thanks to those who have worked for
months in order for the Holy and Great Council to take place, “together
as a group and each one individually who have worked zealously,
selflessly and with great willingness for this great event of the Holy
and Great Council of our Orthodox Church to take place.”
