Patriarch Bartholomew’s adviser: the Council is still on even if some churches do not attend

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, said that the decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Council, which is due to take place in Crete in the middle of June, will still be binding for all Orthodox churches, even if one or more churches don’t attend the Council, reports Blagovest-info.

According to the leading cleric, the summit is going ahead no matter what. If one or more churches doesn’t attend, or withdraws during the council, or is not present and doesn’t vote, all the decisions made will still hold and be binding for all Orthodox churches. A Great Council is above and beyond any individual church council or synod … and it remains such even without the participation of one or more church.

"Unity is an objective, not a given," says the Rev. John Chryssavgis. "It may be there spiritually and liturgically and sacramentally, but to make it visible is hard, painful, slow work, and it takes time."

"Certainly if somebody’s missing, it’s a vacuum we will feel, and we’ll be very, very sorry. I think it will have an impact not just on the council, but also on the church that chooses not to come … If a church chooses to withdraw and not attend, I think it would be a sad reflection of the self-marginalization of that church," said the theological adviser.

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