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Communiqué of The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (June 2020)
Between 23-25 June 2020, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate was convened for its regular meeting of the current month
at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy,
Geneva. On the first day, the synodal members were engaged in their
cooperative work with many of the Hierarchs of the Throne in Europe that
were invited as well.
During this meeting, the Official Letters of Their Beatitiudes the
Orthodox Primates that had been received thus far in response to the letter of the Ecumenical Patriarch
to them of May 17th of this year, on the issue of the mode of
distribution of Holy Communion that emerged after the appearance of the
coronavirus pandemic, were read and discussed. It was satisfactorily
determined that their opinion coincided with that of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate. This consists of the following:
a) The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist is non-negotiable, because we
believe that through it it is transmitted to the faithful the Body and
Blood of the Savior Christ “unto the remission of sins and life eternal”
and it is impossible that through this Mystery of Mysteries any disease
might be communicated to those who partake. For this reason, the Church
remains steadfast and immovable in its teaching towards the essence of
the Mystery of Holy Communion.
b) As to the mode of distributing the ineffable Mysteries to the
faithful, the Church, respecting Holy Tradition that is interwoven
inextricably with the daily ecclesiastical practice and kenotic
experience, and as the guardian and vigilant watchman of those
traditions handed down from the Holy Father, finds no need for a change
of this mode, especially under pressure from external factors.
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.
In Geneva, 25, June 2020
