Filaret: Decisions of the Crete Council are not important

Decisions of the Crete Council are not that important. The main thing is that it was convened by the the Ecumenical Patriarch, said the head of the Kiev Patriarchate in his interview with 5 Channel on January 6.

"The decisions that were taken in Crete are not very important, because issues discussed there do not cause much disagreement – fasting, bigamy of priests, ecumenical questions, i.e. questions that actually have been solved," said Filaret.

"But the important thing at this Council was that it was convened by Patriarch Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch, who presided at it. This means that all the Orthodox Councils are convened by the Ecumenical Patriarch. Not by another hierarch, but Ecumenical. And it is the Ecumenical Patriarch who presides at it," he stressed.

"Therefore, this Council has had a great importance for the Ecumenical Patriarch," concluded the head of the UOC-KP.
Recall the decision of the Crete Council caused a heated debate among Orthodox bishops and theologians. Four Local Churches refused to participate in the Council because of disagreement on some draft documents, submitted for consideration by the Council. Many of the bishops who took part in the Council did not sign the final documents.

See also: Pan-Orthodox Council and the "conspiracy theory"