Pat. Bartholomew calls on four Churches to accept Crete Council's decisions

Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: Press Service of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

On June 1, 2026, Patriarch Bartholomew led the Divine Liturgy on the Day of the Holy Spirit at the Holy Trinity Church of the Stavrodromi community in Istanbul. This was reported by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In his address to the faithful, the Patriarch reсalled that it was on Pentecost Monday of 2016 that the Council of Crete opened in Kolymbari. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this event, he appealed to the four Local Churches that did not participate in its work, calling upon them to study the six document-decisions, the Encyclical, and the Message of the Council and "to proceed conciliarly to their acceptance." The Patriarch called this step "the only correct response" and an expression of respect for the many years of work by all Orthodox Churches.

It should be recalled that the Georgian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian Churches did not participate in the Council of Crete.

As the UOJ reported, a hierarch of the Church of Greece called the Council of Crete a path to schism. The Holy and Great Council of 2016 took place without the participation of the Russian, Georgian, Bulgarian, and Antiochian Orthodox Churches, which withdrew from participation shortly before its opening.

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