Pentecost Week 2016
Kolymbari – Crete
The Convocation of the Holy and Great Synod
– A Witness to Unity of Orthodox Faith and Communion of the Holy Spirit: Regulation of relations with the rest of the Christian world
– The participation of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania as an important historical fact
– The fundamental contribution of His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania
The Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church is already a reality and, as such, it is presented to the history and the centuries as the most important event of the Orthodox world that belongs not only to the present. The above is a brief paraphrases of the words of His All-Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch in his capacity as President at the conclusion of the Synod.
Throughout the week of Pentecost 2016 in Kolymbari Crete, in the premises of the Orthodox Theological Academy, the Holy and Great Synod was held with the participation of ten local Patriarchates and Orthodox Churches. It was successfully finalized and led to the adoption of text-decisions provisioned at the prior meetings of the Primates of the local Orthodox Churches and, in particular, at that of Chambesy in January 2016.
Several hierarchs with their Primates from ten different Churches participated in the Holy and Great Synod: The Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Romania, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the Church of Poland, the Church of Albania and the Church of Czech. Although four local Churches (the Patriarchate of Antioch, Russia, Bulgaria and the Georgian Church) were not present due to their own reasons, the most important message of the Synod of the Orthodox Church is about the unity in the entire universe. The basic idea that was emphasized and adopted in the texts of the Holy and Great Synod was that the Orthodox Church is not a local confederation of national churches, but “one Catholic and Apostolic Church”. This idea was expressed in the opening homely of the President of the Synod, the Ecumenical Patriarch, and was subsequently codified by Archbishop Anastasios in his final message.
Participants in the Holy and Great Synod were also the members of the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania such as His Eminence John, Metropolitan of Korca; His Eminence Demetrios, Metropolitan of Gjirokastra; His Eminence Nikolla, Metropolitan of Fieri; His Eminence Anthony, Metropolitan of Elbasan; His Eminence Nathaniel, Metropolitan of Amantia, His Eminence Asti of Bylis, as well as other representatives of clergy and laity.
The Synod began its work on the Monday of Holy Spirit, with official speeches by the Primates of local churches after Patriarch’s speech. It continued its work throughout the week of Pentecost in a spirit of alignment positions, of unity and responsibility for its mission and from the perspective of the Orthodox Church which is established by God and our Lord Jesus Christ and which is loyal to the tradition of the holy Fathers of the Church. Discussion was open to each of the members, to the hierarchs of the representing Churches and was conducted on the bases of the Rule of the Holy and Great Synod as it was first approved at the meeting of Primates, without any limitation of time and above all, all texts of decisions were submitted for approval. The text- decisions were processed in spite of the controversy, and they were adapted to include the remarks and proposals suggested by the present hierarchs within a constructive and unanimous spirit. Actually it was noted at the outset that the principle of consensus could be misused and become a veto or a blocking tool even in the Orthodox Church and, therefore the principle of a majority of members was adopted based on the spirit of the Ecumenical Councils.
During the second and third day decisions were adopted on the following topics: Mission of the Church in today’s world, the Orthodox Diaspora and the Regulations of Local Episcopal Conferences, Fasting and its application today. The Synod continued with the decision making on the Autonomy of local churches and the way it is granted, as well as with the sacrament of marriage and the obstacles to it. The issue of diaspora and marriage were sensitive and the respective decisions provisioned specific economy according to each local church, but always holding fast to the decisions of the Synod. The governing principle of the Synod remained the basis of church life organization in the Orthodox world.
Despite the difficulties, which were natural, the Synod adopted also the Decision on the relation of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian world, this being a powerful element in order to maintain contacts, to express the will of the entire Orthodox Church as well as its openness, persistence and contribution as the only apostolic Church which values spiritual unity.
The Synod decided to address people with an Encyclical of the Holy and Great Orthodox Synod, which is an integral text that affects the entire spiritual and sacramental life of the Church. It presents the position of the Church on issues which focus on the man as a person, on human society and the world; the position of the Church on the phenomena of modern development and research, on youth, and on the problems with morality and Christian ethics; on hieroapostolism and re-evangelization of people as well as on Christian contribution to the interfaith dialogue which in turn contributes to peace, economic development which must become more anthropocentric; the position of the church on clashes, on conflicts and their destructive consequences, on the youth and its role in church life, on the woman and her dignity in church etc. The impact of this text is immediate and is transmitted in all the mass media, indicating thus that the Orthodox Church influences life in the entire universe and that these attitudes, sanctioned by the Orthodox tradition and actualized in reality as it is experienced by humanity, have long been expected to be codified.
The Role of Archbishop Anastasios and the Message of the Holy and Great Synod
The message of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church which was delivered to the orthodox people and to every person of good will, is a summary of all the pan-orthodox experience, which was claimed not only during the convocation of the Synod, but also during the preparatory work which went on for decades (efforts began in1961 with the initiative of the Patriarch Athenagoras and the final fruits were collected during this historic Synod).
This comprehensive text, which was read on the Sunday of All Saints in the Church of Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Hania (also a quite significant fact), and which was declared worldwide, expressed the essence and the content of the Holy Synod. It clearly defined the attitude of the Orthodox Church to the whole spectrum of spiritual problems. The text was drafted by His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania and was adopted almost without any remarks by the Synod. The declaration of the Unity of the Orthodox Church, its synodical system, the testimony of faith worldwide, the dialogue with the rest of the Christians, the interfaith dialogue and its contribution of Orthodoxy, Man and His personality, Marriage and Forbearance were the core of the Message. Part of the discussions during the Synod was also the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards serious social problems, based also on the perspective of the spiritual fathers of the Orthodox Church towards contemporary issues, such as: Development of sciences, the ecological crisis and balanced development, the respect for the uniqueness of humans and peoples, peace and the fight against poverty, youth and its position in society, hieroapostolism in the worldwide level etc.
Naturally, the editing and approval of the text was not the only contribution of Archbishop Anastasios. His Beatitude, as a spiritual personality internationally recognized, multifaceted and graced by the Holy Spirit, as it is widely claimed, was one of the main pillars of the Holy and Great Synod of Crete 2016. From his opening words to his mindful interventions during the Synod till the conclusion of the Synod in the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Chrisopigi, he clearly excelled in his insistence on preserving the right spirit during the Synod, on adherence to the Fathers of the Church’ spirit and on grabbing the right opportunities so that the Church can institutionally express itself in the contemporary world and adopt attitudes, but also keep the prospect open for continuing the Synod after Synod, in order for the Orthodox Church to stay in constant communication both at primate and synodical level.
Archbishop Anastasios as a potential participant who has contributed the most, being perhaps the only witness to the idea for the conduction of this Synod in the 60s of the last century, possessing the experience of the most famous hieroapostle in the Orthodox life, deserving the merit for the revival of a Church by scratch and especially possessing a remarkable theological preparation, has even been the main promoter of the new ideas presented to the Synod which were easily adopted at the Synod texts. He is also a man of consensus, a trait which became apparent in his interventions at the key moments of the Synod with the solo aim to ensure the continuation and approval of all steps in the decision texts of the Synod. In addition, Archbishop Anastasios is also the person who had drafted the final messages in the previous meetings of the Orthodox Primates (2008 and 2016).
Archbishop Anastasios’ claim that unity is not expressed in confederacy, but in being one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, as well as other issues such as the continuation of Orthodox testimony in every liturgy after the Divine Liturgy, that is hieroapostolism, combating of egocentrism at all levels (church, nation and individual level) in order to make more room for peace and unity, the role of youth as the present of the Church, the openness of the Church and its attitude towards issues that preoccupy humanity today without infringing the core of Orthodox dogma, were positively received and approved by members of the Synod, but also will continue to be discussed in other Christian debates.
The development of the Holy and Great Synod coincided with two other events related to the life of the participating Primates. For the Ecumenical Patriarch who was also the Synod President, this year was the 25th anniversary jubilee of his election, which was crowned with the most brilliant event in the life of the Orthodox Church, in which His Holiness had a special role and contribution. A man of deep Orthodox spirituality, graced by the Holy Spirit, with the remarkable patience of a spiritual father, with the tolerance that characterizes him and gifted with special intellect, the Patriarch has been one of the key factors of success not only during the Synod but at all the perennial stages of its preparation,. For this reason, he received thanks and praises not only by the Primates of the participating churches, but also from all the hierarch members of the Synod.
The 24th of June was a special day even for the Primate of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, since it marked the 25th anniversary of the election of Archbishop Anastasios as the Primate of our Church, from the Synod of the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He received numerous congratulations from the Patriarch and the other participants. In particular, during the Divine Liturgy, which was conducted by the clergy of our Church in the Monastery of the Virgin Lady of Angels in Gonia (the liturgy was celebrated also by the other participating churches), on Saturday, June 25, Archbishop exchanged congratulations on this occasion with the Patriarch and welcomed him briefly, but with meaningful words. Our Archbishop gave to Patriarch Bartholemew several volumes of books about the construction work of the Church of Albania which has been and is still carried out in the recent years nationwide. The composition of the delegation of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church symbolically expressed the concept of Archbishop Anastasios for the synthesis of what is called Church: bishops, as personifications of the Church in the form and place of Christ; the clergy as priests who perform the Divine Eucharist, the sacrament of sacraments; and laity, the Church body of men, women and youth representing the present and the future of the Church.
Other Activities Occurring Parallel to the Synod
During the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church other spiritual activities took place which culminated with the concelebrating of all the Primates of local Churches on the Sunday of Pentecost and on the Sunday of All Saints. Divine Liturgy was also celebrated on the Saturday of the Souls and was accompanied by a Mnimosino during which the participants prayed for all those hierarchs, theologians and other workers of the Gospel, who had worked and prayed over the years for the realization of this Synod and for maintaining the spirit of unity within the Church Orthodox.
The panegyrical Divine Liturgy and Vespers of Pentecost accompanied by the prayers of the participants falling on their knees, were held in the Cathedral of St. Minas in Heraklion where, His All–Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Divine services and concelebrated with the other primates of the participating churches according to the order of Diptych of the Mother Church, Constantinople.
On the Sunday of All Saints the closing liturgy was again presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the church of Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Hania where also the message of the Holy and Great Synod was read. Both liturgies were broadcasted in the whole world by a Greek Public Television.
Also, during all the days of the Holy and Great Synod, Divine Liturgies were performed by local churches in their own language in the katholikon of the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos, the Lady of Angels, in Gonia, declaring thus unity in diversity. On Saturday, June 25, our Orthodox Church conducted the Liturgy in Albanian. It was celebrated by His Eminence Asti, Bishop of Bylis and was accompanied by the chants of “St. John Koukouzelis” Byzantine choir.
Orfea Beci
Translated by: Juljana Kodheli
