One
of the things I will be thankful for during Thanksgiving dinner is
being able to witness the historic gathering of Orthodox hierarchs and
other representatives of our Faith at Holy and Great Council (HGC) last
summer.
Everyone I spoke with felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and
expressed what a privilege it was for them to be there – I felt it was
truly a gift from God.
The
island of Crete is a joy to visit anytime. Pictures help convey the
enchantments of the manmade and natural beauty and the stories tourists
take with them will delight friends and family for decades, but while
neither words nor images can do justice to the experiences of those who
participated in the HGC, hearing them talk about it is inspiring.
While
I was there, I had the chance to speak to participants from the
Archdiocese of America. It’s strong presence included administrators who
helped make the event possible and hierarchs led by Archbishop
Demetrios who participated in the discussions that were the substance of
the HGC.
The
hierarchs included Metropolitans who were serving their rotation as
members of the Endemousa Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
including. Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, Metropolitan Gerasimos of San
Francisco, Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, Metropolitan Alexios of
Atlanta, and Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanellia.
Their
heavy schedules did not permit me to speak to each of them, but I was
grateful for some time with Metropolitans Isaiah and Nikitas while they
were still in Crete about their experiences as members of the Council
and about the important aftermath which includes communicating and
discussing its work with clergy and laity.
All
the hierarchs noted that although rooted in ancient Orthodox tradition,
the HGC was a completely new reality for its approximately 200
participants.
Metropolitan
Isaiah told me in the middle of the week-long gathering “Initially I
felt there was no concern on the part of some to work together, and to
have unanimity in the subject matter….I did see some confusion when I
got here…but I now see an intense desire to bring clarity and
understanding and agreement in regards to what we are talking about.”
“Until
recently geopolitical realities made it very difficult to bring people
together in an environment of peacefulness in order to understand each
other, he reminded, and added “I thank God that I am here.”
I had the feeling all of us on Crete continually thanked the Lord and felt His presence.
“I
have to say that during the last two sessions I feel very comfortable
saying that the Holy Spirit is guiding us because I see a very peaceful
consensus in regard to finding in clarity and what the truth is in
regard to what these documents will say not only for us, the hierarchs,
but to the people in the outside world,” including the non-Orthodox.
Communication
after the council is important because it is easy for people who are
not experts to misinterpret the Council’s documents, Metropolitan Isaiah
told me, and added that he believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in
the process.
The
Ecumenical movement was a major topic at the HGC and Metropolitan
Isaiah told me of the excitement he began to feel 50 years ago when he
started “to notice statements made by people about how we who call
ourselves Christians can come together not to become one church but to
work together as Christians - as far as we Orthodox are concerned we are
the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
I
was only able to catch up with Metropolitan Gerasimos after he returned
to the U.S. He shared some preliminary thoughts with me by phone, and I
heard him elaborate upon them when I attended the Archdiocese’s
Clergy-Laity Congress in July.
“I
am still trying to tease out the importance of this event” he told me.
“Of course, I was blessed and honored to be together with so many
other hierarchs in this historic event. And this is the most crucial
point of this gathering: convening all together, under the guidance of
the Ecumenical Patriarch and the blessings of the Holy Spirit, in order
to discuss and dialogue about our faith today and tomorrow,” he said.
All
the people I spoke with emphasized that the HGC was an important first
step. I had the honor of hearing His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew declare that more Councils will follow – the next one may he
held as soon seven years from now.
Metropolitan
Gerasimos said to me, “I feel that we had a good beginning with this
Synod, in making ourselves a little more open to others' opinions and
ideas…Our journey as the Orthodox Church of the 21st century however is
full of challenges, some of them more serious than others. Therefore,
the substance of this gathering is that it is an unprecedented gathering
of so many different Churches with so many different opinions, yet
united over the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith!”
“And
here is the wonder of this Synod,” he continued, “we might have
differences of opinions in substantive matters, but at the end we were
able to convene together and agree on issues that will shape our
spiritual lives and those that we shepherd throughout the world.”
The
Metropolitan believes that eventually, the success of the Synod, beyond
of what was discussed there, will depend on the hierarch rising to the
challenge of “taking this event and making it real throughout the world
by implementing our decisions. I pray that our Lord will be kind
and merciful to us all as we begin working for the realization of the
Synod's implementation tasks.”
Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanellia is the Director of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in
Berkeley, CA. He told me “I think the first and most important thing is
to see the wisdom, the guiding hand of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the courage to convene not only this Holy
and Great Council but to overcome challenges and difficulties, the
confrontations and different problems - which takes a man of thought and
vision.”
In
addition to the intellectual capabilities a spiritual leader requires
to preside over a Council, Metropolitan Nikitas noted Patriarch
Bartholomew’s “Compassion, and embracing attitude” that was needed to
reinforce “the idea of being inclusive rather than limiting.”
The
Metropolitan used an example from everyday life to demonstrate that a
Council’s challenges are not unique: “A family that has a dozen children
has its own problems at the dinner table. Not everyone likes the same
food, some like salt and others don’t, but still they sit together and
at that table they discuss and talk - they share – and that’s the spirit
of this Council.”
He
continued, “The Church has a space for everyone, and this Council and
the challenges and the discussions are a part of that everyone and
everything. The question was, are we able to come to some conclusions
and resolutions, some statements? I think we were able to because of the
wisdom and the vision of the Patriarch.”
And
because the spirit of the HGC will be conveyed to those who were
absent, the process of the reception of the decisions on Crete, which is
“part and parcel of the work of the Council,” moves forward and will
fuel discussions around the world as Fr. John Chrysavgis told me.
“Councils
are never frozen in time,” Metropolitan Nikitas said. “They are ongoing
events because they are lived by the Community and the Church…the
decisions are lived, and we have to see that and remember that.”