Associated Press, crux now
Despite decades of preparation, Orthodox leaders failed ahead of the meeting in Crete to overcome differences. They include efforts to reconcile with the Vatican and areas of influence that typically predate current national borders.
ATHENS, Greece - The leaders of the world’s Orthodox Christian
churches have gathered on the Greek island of Crete for a landmark
meeting, despite a boycott by the Russian church - the most populous in a
religion of some 300 million people - and three other churches.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew led prayers attended by other church
leaders Sunday on the eve of the weeklong summit - the first of its
kind in more than 1,200 years.
Despite decades of preparation, Orthodox leaders failed ahead of the
meeting in Crete to overcome differences. They include efforts to
reconcile with the Vatican and areas of influence that typically predate
current national borders.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is not attending the meetings, arguing
that preparation had been inadequate. Serbia’s Church leadership did
attend despite having close ties with the Russian Church, but the
Georgian, Bulgarian and Syria-based Antioch patriarchates skipped the
synod.
In a statement Friday, Kirill said he hoped religious leaders
gathered in Crete could prepare for a full meeting at a later date.
Kirill visited Greece last month, joining Russian President Vladimir
Putin on a trip to the monastic sanctuary of Mount Athos.
Church leaders gathered at the Cretan city of Iraklio also stressed
the need for unity among the churches, with some publicly supporting
efforts to organize a later meeting with the Russians present.
“We are on a steady course toward a great Synod and sending the
message that our people need,” Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus
said. “Orthodoxy has shown that it can be united.”
Unlike the centralized authority of the Vatican over Roman Catholics,
Orthodox churches are autocephalous, or independent, with Bartholomew
considered as the first among equals.
But the Ecumenical Patriarchate is based in Istanbul in predominantly
Muslim Turkey and is frequently at odds with Moscow, with the Russian
Church having restored much of its power after Communism and
representing more than 100 million faithful.
“It is well known that relations between the Church and state have
gone through many stages. But regardless of how one may characterize
these relations, both the church and the state are interested in the
welfare of man,” Bartholomew said.
Last week a spokesman for Bartholomew had expressed disappointment at Moscow’s decision.
“The Church of Russia’s decision was 48 hours before the primates
were expected here in Crete. Nothing else had happened in the months
between January and their decision in early June,” the spokesman, Rev.
John Chryssavgis, told a Church internet channel.
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who holds a largely ceremonial role, traveled to Crete to greet the church leaders.
The Syria-based Antioch Patriarchate was absent due to a dispute with
the Jerusalem Patriarchate over the jurisdiction of the Muslim Gulf
state of Qatar.
But representatives from many other parts of the world were
represented, including Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All
Africa, Archbishop Rastislav of Czech Lands and Slovakia, and Archbishop
Anastasios of Albania