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Ecumenical Patriarchate Acts on Mode of Distribution of Holy Communion
PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK – Today,
June 25, 2020, The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
released the summation of their work at the Meeting of the Holy Synod
in Chambésy,
Geneva at Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This included
consideration of the responses of the Local Autocephalous Churches to
the May 17, 2020 Letter of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew on the issue of Holy Communion and its manner of
distribution.
Commenting on the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Archbishop said:
“Once
again, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under the exemplary leadership of
His All-Holiness Bartholomew, has demonstrated authentic conciliar
Orthodox primacy in Her fraternal consultation with the Local
Autocephalous Churches. The pastoral wisdom and sensitivity that can be
applied by economia in
the Diaspora further manifests the love and concern of the Mother
Church of Constantinople for all Her spiritual children throughout the
world. We are grateful for the wise and prudent counsel of the First
Throne of Orthodoxy.”
In the Communiqué, the
Holy and Sacred Synod affirms that the “Mystery of the Divine Eucharist
is non-negotiable,” and “the Church remains steadfast and immovable in
its teaching towards the essence of the Mystery of Holy Communion.”
The Communiqué further states: “At
the same time, the Mother Church, mindful of the special needs of Her
children in the Diaspora, urges the Chief Shepherds who serve in the
Diaspora that with a pastoral sensitivity, responsibility, and
consciousness, to temporarily make, by economia,
accommodations to problematic situations that arise from local laws of
the State for the greater spiritual benefit of the Christian people,
always in coordination with the Sacred Center at the Phanar.”
Amidst
the continuing or even rising increase of COVID 19 spread in the USA,
in its wisdom, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has offered the
liberty to the priests to address this emergency situation by
temporarily distributing Holy Communion using multiple spoons that are
dedicated for only that purpose and belonging to the local parish, an
accommodation mindful of the special needs of the faithful in the
Diaspora and with "pastoral sensitivity, responsibility, and
consciousness".
This
is not only consistent with the wisdom of the Holy and Sacred Synod of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but it underscores what His Eminence
Archbishop Elpidophoros has affirmed since the beginning of the crisis:
" It is not the way we receive, it is the Communion itself that saves us
and gives us eternal life.”
The full Communiqué may be found in the official Greek and an English translation here: https://www.goarch.org/-/ecumenical-patriarchate-communique
