Church officials say Orthodox Council decisions will be binding

Jun 30, 2016

CRETE, Greece: Senior Orthodox representatives have insisted decisions by the Holy and Great Council, currently meeting in Crete, will be “representative and binding” for all churches, as two more declarations were agreed on key aspects of Orthodox life.

“We haven’t come here for a conference or meeting, but for a Holy Council, which was convened by Orthodox church primates in a consensus — so only a similar consensus by the primates could delay the Council or change its status,” Archbishop Job Getcha of Telmessos, the Council spokesman, told a June 23 press briefing.

“The documents being discussed were composed by all the churches together during our pan-Orthodox consultations, and their reception will start after the closing session. It’s clear to all gathered here that the Council’s decisions will therefore be representative and binding.”

The archbishop was responding to questions about the absence from the Council of Orthodox leaders from Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia and the Antioch Patriarchate who, together, represent around half of Orthodoxy’s 300 million worldwide adherents.

He said the Crete Council had been preceded by more than half a century’s consultations, involving all Orthodox hierarchies, and should be viewed “as a process rather than just an event.”

Meanwhile, another church official said that functions, rules and voting procedures for the Council had also been agreed by all Orthodox leaders, and were not affected by the decision of certain churches to stay away.

“Conciliarity isn’t determined by quantity, and how many Christians are supposed to be represented here — it was a common decision to gather and discuss these topics,” said Ionut Mavrichi, spokesman for the Romanian Orthodox church.

“Ecumenical councils have been held before without the presence of some patriarchates, but this didn’t make them less ecumenical or less binding. Some of our own churches didn’t even exist at the time, but we still recognize them.”

The week-long Council, widely believed to be the first on such a scale for more than a thousand years, is in session at Kolymbari in Crete, attended by 290 delegates, two-thirds of them bishops, from 10 of Orthodoxy’s 14 main churches. -- NCR