Πεμπτουσία

5th PAN-ORTHODOX PRE-CONCILIAR CONFERENCE Chambésy, 10-17 October 2015 RELATIONS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH WITH THE REST OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD DECISION The Orthodox Church, as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, in her profound ecclesiastical conscience, firmly believes that she maintains a central place in matters pertaining to the promotion of unity among Christians in the contemporary world. For the Orthodox Church, Church unity is grounded on the establishment of the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ, and also on communion in the Holy Trinity and sacramental communion. This unity is experienced in the Church to this day and made manifest through apostolic succession and the patristic tradition. It is the mission and duty of the Orthodox Church to transmit and preach the ...

(Heraklion, June 18, 2016) Your Eminence Archbishop Irenaios of Crete and Your Eminences and Graces, as well as holy brothers comprising the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Church of Crete, Most honorable and beloved Mr. Vasilios Lambrinos, Mayor of Heraklion, and the representatives of local and regional authorities, Beloved people of this historic city of Heraklion, All of us here today, both our Modesty the Ecumenical Patriarch, and our colleagues, their Beatitudes the Primates of the Most-Holy Orthodox Autocephalous Churches, are overjoyed by the convocation of the Holy and Great Council of our Orthodox Church on the glorious island of Crete. We wholeheartedly thank you, Mr. Mayor, and all the authorities of Crete and the God-loving children of the Mother Church of Constantinople in Crete; ...

5th PAN-ORTHODOX PRE-CONCILIAR CONFERENCE Chambésy, 10-17 October 2015 THE IMPORTANCE OF FASTING AND ITS OBSERVANCE TODAY DECISION Fasting is a divine commandment (Gen 2:16-17). According to Basil the Great, fasting is as old as humanity itself; it was prescribed in paradise (On Fasting, 1, 3. PG 31, 168 A). It is a great spiritual endeavor and the foremost expression of the Orthodox ascetic ideal. The Orthodox Church, in strict conformity with the apostolic precepts, the synodal canons, and the patristic tradition as a whole, has always proclaimed the great significance of fasting for our spiritual life and salvation. The annual liturgical cycle reflects the entire patristic teaching on fasting, the teaching on constant and unceasing watchfulness of the human person, and our participation ...

(Chania, Crete, June 16, 2016) Your Beatitudes, holy brothers, Primates of the Orthodox Churches, Your Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The gracious initiative of your Excellency to offer this official dinner in honor of both our Modesty and the brother Primates of the various Holy Orthodox Churches, manifests the honor, love and respect that is fostered by the Orthodox Hellenic Republic and you, personally, for our One and Unified Orthodox Church and the persons comprising Her, who gathered here on the island of Crete to convene this Holy and Great Council. Your Excellency manifests tangibly these sentiments that are familiar to us all by the exercise of your high and responsible office and by everything you have offered to us. We recall, at this ...

5th PAN-ORTHODOX PRE-CONCILIAR CONFERENCE Chambésy, 10-17 October 2015 AUTONOMY AND THE MEANS BY WHICH IT IS PROCLAIMED DECISION The 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Conciliar Conference, upon the completion of its work on the text, Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed, already agreed upon and adopted by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Committee during its session in Chambésy on December 9-17, 2009, considered the ecclesiological, canonical, and pastoral aspects of the institution of autonomy and sought a unanimous pan-Orthodox position on the matter. The 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Conciliar Conference, which grounded its work on the text adopted by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Committee, addressed: The concept, nature, and various forms of the institution of autonomy. The prerequisites for a local Church to request autonomy from the autocephalous Church to which ...

4th PRE-CONCILIAR PAN-ORTHODOX CONFERENCE Chambésy, 6-13 June 2009 THE ORTHODOX DIASPORA DECISION *The following English text is a working translation. An official English translation is forthcoming. The Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference was convened by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with the consensus of Their Beatitudes the Primates of the Most Holy Orthodox Churches expressed during their Sacred Synaxis at the Phanar in October 2008. The Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference met at the Orthodox Center of Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, from 6 to 13 June 2009 under the chairmanship of His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon, representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This conference, to which all of the most holy Orthodox autocephalous Churches were invited and were represented, studied the issue of the canonical organization of the ...

SYNAXIS OF ORTHODOX PRIMATES Chambésy, 21-28 January 2016 THE MISSION OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN TODAY’S WORLD DECISION *The following English text is a working translation. An official English translation is forthcoming. The contribution of the Orthodox Church in realizing peace, justice, freedom, fraternity and love between peoples, and in the removal of racial and other discriminations. The Church of Christ exists in the world, but is not of the world (cf. Jn 17:11, 14-15). The Church, as the sign and image of the Kingdom of God in history, proclaims the good news of a new creation (II Cor 5:17), of new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (II Pt 3:13); news of a world in whichGod will wipe away every tear from people’s eyes; ...

‘Your frequent Salutations will be pleasing to me when you desist from hatred, lying and the theft of other people’s goods. And as long as you oppress the poor, distressing them with high interest rates and onerous taxes, then you’re no different from the pagans and those who killed Christ, even if you do boast about your Baptism. I won’t listen to you, however many canons and hymns you sing to me in a strong and beautiful voice’.

The events surrounding the birth of the Honourable Forerunner are mentioned by Saint Luke the Evangelist in the first chapter of his Gospel. He writes that in the days of Herod the king, there lived in Judea a certain priest called Zechariah. His wife was called Elizabeth and she was a descendant of the Prophet Aaron. They were both close to God and lived in righteousness, fear of God, piety, and sobriety and they observed the divine commandments. For many years, they begged God to bless them with the joy of a child, but, despite their fervent prayers, they had never had one. Zechariah and his barren wife, Elizabeth, had become very elderly and no longer had any hope of having ...

  ...We must therefore avoid the sins which are considered minor. Because if, on the one hand we wish to please God, and on the other fall into these ‘lesser’ sins, it’s as if we wish to unite heaven and hell, light and darkness, fire and water, or sanctity and wickedness. However minor these sins appear to be, they bear serious weight, since they’re an affront to our holy God. Because the greatest evil which is addressed to created beings is as nothing compared to any addressed to the Creator. Let’s be ashamed, then, for accepting into our heart, without objection, anything that God doesn’t want. Let’s reject a thousand times the laxity we’ve shown so far in observing His commandments and ...