Leading cleric says Orthodox Church’s ‘Vatican II’ is a go John L. Allen Jr. June 7, 2016 EDITOR The Rev. John Chryssavgis speaks at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, in December 2014. "Unity is an objective, not a given," says the Rev. John Chryssavgis, an archdeacon and theological adviser to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. "It may be there spiritually and liturgically and sacramentally, but to make it visible is hard, painful, slow work, and it takes time." In a sense, the “Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church”, conceived as a gathering of all the heads of the 14 independent Orthodox churches around the world in Crete June 16-27, has been at least a millennium in the making. More proximately, planning has been underway since 1961, meaning more than a half-century. As a result, it’s perhaps no surprise there have been a few hiccups along the way. Recently, two of the fourteen Orthodox churches have floated boycotting - the Bulgarians, because they’re upset over some of the documents up for discussion and also the seating arrangements, and the Patriarchate of Antioch, over a jurisdictional dispute involving Qatar. On Monday, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, traditionally the “first among equals” in the Orthodox world, issued a call to all Orthodox leaders to show up and to uphold rules for the meeting agreed upon in January 2016. According to the Rev. John Chryssavgis, the archdeacon and theological adviser to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who will serve on a drafting committee for the council’s final message, the summit is going ahead no matter what. “The council is still on,” Chryssavgis told Crux in a June 6 interview, just ahead of his departure for Crete. “If one or more churches don’t attend, all the decisions made will still hold and be binding for all Orthodox churches.” Click here for the rest of the article: https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/06/07/leading-cleric-says-orthodox-churchs-vatican-ii-go/
Apparently this council will be considered the Eighth Ecumenical Council, by the EO? I was reading a ROCOR article after reading the above...and they are already thinking it'll be a "robber council" Seems that ecumenism, and dialogue with non-Christian religions, will be the main issue. And "modernizing" the Orthodox Church. Along with attempting to straighten out the problems of having several bishops of ethnic churches overlapping in the same cities. No doubt traditionalists will be as unhappy with the Council as some Roman Catholics were with Vatican 2. Interesting though. I'm curious what will come of it.
No, commentators on ancient faith radio say that this is a "pan-orthodox" council. Ecumenical councils are only declared so after the fact, so says one EO cleric I've read.