An historic event in the life of the modern Church has been scheduled for this summer. For the first time in centuries, it is possible for the hierarchs of all the autocephalus Orthodox Churches to gather in a Great Council to address issues of Church life which affect all of us. There are those who have suggested that this will be an 8th Ecumenical Council however this is not the case. A council is determined to be of “Ecumenical” stature only when a doctrinal issue of major importance and universal effect is addressed and a determination made concerning that which is Truth and that which is heretical. Once a council has made such a proclamation, it is still not considered “Ecumenical” until it has been embraced by the whole Church and incorporated as a regular and integral part of the life and worship of the Church. This upcoming council is more properly referred to as a “Great and Holy Synod”.

The Great and Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church will be convened June 16-21, 2016 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymparia of Chania. The items officially approved for referral to and adoption by the Holy and Great Council are:

• The Mission of the Orthodox Church in the Contemporary World
• The Orthodox Diaspora, Autonomy and its Manner of Proclamation
• The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments
• The Significance of Fasting and its Application Today
• Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World

By decision of the Primates, all approved documents will be published. The Patriarch of Russia, Kyrill, in summarizing the pre-Conciliar discussions of the hierarchs gave a report to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. His remarks can be found in a number of summaries on the website www.pravoslavie.ru

In preparation for the council, the Primates also discussed and determined the establishment of a Pan-Orthodox Secretariat, the by-laws of the Council, the participation of non-Orthodox observers in the opening and closing sessions, and the budgetary costs related the Council. Moreover, the Primates expressed their support for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East and their ongoing concern for the abduction of the two Metropolitans, Paul Yazigi of the Patriarchate of Antioch and Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Archdiocese.

Let us remember to pray for our hierarchs as they prepare to gather together that the Holy Spirit will protect them and guide them, granting them wisdom to steer the course of the Church well.