World Council of Churches gives thanks for the life of Fr Georges Tsetsis

World Council of Churches gives thanks for the life of Fr Georges Tsetsis

Panorthodox Synod : ADDRESS BY ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH AT THE WCC TOWN-H...

Panorthodox Synod : ADDRESS BY ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH AT THE WCC TOWN-H...:   World Council of Churches Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the WCC Town-Hall Discussion on Interfaith Dia...

#WCC CC interviews - His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

WCC central committee opens in Geneva with prayer recalling 75th anniversary - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivers sermon in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel,Geneva,Switzerland,

WCC central committee opens in Geneva with prayer recalling 75th anniversary

WCC appoints Dr Andrej Jeftić as new director of Commission on Faith and Order

WCC appoints Dr Andrej Jeftić as new director of Commission on Faith and Order: The World Council of Churches (WCC) has appointed Dr Andrej Jeftić as the new director of the Commission on Faith and Order.

Panorthodox Synod : GREETING OF ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO THE 11TH ASSEMBLY OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

Panorthodox Synod : GREETING OF ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO TH...: Ecumenical Patriarchate Permanent Delegation to the World Council of Churches Distinguished organizers and...

Panorthodox Synod : RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN UKRAINE MEET WITH WORLD C...

Panorthodox Synod : RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN UKRAINE MEET WITH WORLD C...:   World Council of Churches WCC delegation led by the acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sau...

Message from participants in the second ecumenical round table on Ukraine - World Council of Churches

Message from participants in the second ecumenical round table on Ukraine

Orthodox churches pray and reflect on reconciliation as WCC 11th Assembly approaches

Orthodox churches pray and reflect on reconciliation as WCC 11th Assembly approaches

Rowan Williams adds his voice to calls for the WCC to eject Russian Orthodox Church

Rowan Williams adds his voice to calls for the WCC to eject Russian Orthodox Church: THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams has backed calls for the Russian Orthodox Church t...

World Council of Churches Takes Part in Orthodox Service-plus Patriarch Bartholomew's special inclusive prayer

The World Council of Churches joined the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem for the services of Pentecost,plus a special ecumenical prayer service,in Jerusalem from 4-5 June 2017.WCC General Secretary Rev.Dr.Olav Fyske Tveit was welcomed by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine.At the Pentecost Divine Liturgy on 4 June,Rev.Dr.Tveit was joined by the concelebrants their Eminences Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias;Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia;Archbishop Demetrios of Lydda;and Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis,as well as other members of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood (Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre),local parishoners and pilgrims.After the Divine Liturgy,representatives of the WCC joined in the Orthodox kneeling prayers of Pentecost.Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia is a Palestinian Arab.Educated in Greece,he worked his way up the ranks of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.He has recently been included in several high profile services with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III.*
On 5 June,the Monday of the Holy Spirit,a special ecumenical prayer service was held at the Dormition Abbey,Jerusalem,and centered on the theme of prayer for worldwide justice and peace.For this service,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople composed the following inclusive prayer:
A Prayer For Pentecost
Almighty Father,who created all things out of love and fashioned all people in your image,who sent your only Son for the life of the world,to bring light to those dwelling in darkness:look down from the heavens and hear our prayer for unity and peace.
Lord Jesus,Word of God,who spoke through the prophets and judges,who is revealed through the least of your brothers and sisters,who desires that all should be saved and that your disciples should be one:reconcile the scattered parts of your body.
Heavenly King,Comforter,the Spirit of Truth,present everywhere and filling all things,the treasury of goodness and giver of life:come and dwell within us and among us,by cleansing us from the stain of division and healing us from the pain of suffering.
From this Upper Room and Holy Land,we stretch out our hands in prayer and open up our hearts in compassion,so the world may believe you are the living God and that "God is love."

Extraordinary Statement From Alexandria Charts Progressive Course For Orthodox Christianity - Deaconesses approved

With one stroke of the pen,as it were,the Patriarchate of Alexandria has opened up new vocational vistas for Orthodox Christian women;confirmed the validity of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church;affirmed the sovereign power of the local Church over its own affairs;and endorsed the continuation along the ecumenical path established by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the twentieth century.Consider these excerpts from the official account of this Church's recent Holy Synod meeting presided by His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa:
The Holy Synod of the Alexandrian Throne met from 15-17 November at the Holy Patriarchal Centre of Alexandria.
The Alexandrian Patriarchate #8211 18/11/16
1.We express glory and praise to the Triune God,who deemed us worthy to participate in the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church last June.
2.The Synod in Crete was an extremely important event for the course of the Orthodox Church as it gave testimony of unity,testimony of responsibility and anxiety for the contemporary world.It was,is and will remain as a great miracle of "meeting and coexisting for this" for the Orthodox Churches and we believe that this new experience will gradually be decoded and will yield new fruits in the Orthodox world.Blessed are they who will taste of this fruit!
3.It confirmed that conciliarity is the pre-eminent expression of the ecclesiological consciousness of the Orthodox Church and at the same time is a dynamic response to the ardent preachers of introversion,exclusivity,racial prejudice and fundamentalism.We believe that in the near future,at the Synods which God willing will follow,imperfection and weaknesses of this Synod will be overcome.
4.We wholeheartedly thank the Most Holy President of the Great and Holy Synod,Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios,their Beatitudes the Primates and all who worked tirelessly for the realisation of the Synod amidst many adversities and challenges.
5.We consider as particularly important the conciliar consolidation of the ecclesiastical dispensation amidst various extremist and conservative positions,as opportunity is given to local churches to exercise their pastoral work in real time and in the particular sites and conditions.However,with regret we found that,despite the prophetic voices which were heard in the Synod and those during the pre-Synodal conferences,timidity and reluctance to understand "deviations" from earlier settings of the life of the Church as accuracy and not as dispensation,although this would have been the true affirmation of the mystery of Christ's incarnation today,in other words the living and salvific Revelation of God.The differing approaches to life in the Church are no deviations for us from Orthodox truth,but adaptation to African reality.
6.The Church of Africa will continue to participate actively in all the official inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogues,despite whichever difficulties and problems which arise from time to time.Besides our participation in the World Council of Churches,we are upgrading our activity in the Pan-African Council of Churches.At every moment we should humbly submit our testimony of the Orthodox faith,the fullness of Orthodox revelation which our Church preserves.Walking in the footsteps of Jesus,we must become instruments of reconciliation and to cultivate the peaceful coexistence of people,respecting and defending their national,racial and religious diversity.Together with the other Churches and Religions,we are called to work towards combating every systemic injustice,anything demonic,in whatever form it appears,which nullifies the lives of the critically injured and bleeding in our flock.
7.We feel that as a living and dynamic Church,we are emerging from within a growing and long-suffering world,we have a duty with courage and prophetic vision to formulate within ourselves the conditions for recruitment and the transformation of our world,and to place a proposition for hope,and life throughout it for all people,as well as resurrectional joy.We ask for the fervent prayers of the Body of our Church,clergy and laity,so that with the cooperation of everyone to build on the momentum of the Great Synod and to liberate those powers that will show the Church of Africa to be a prophetic presence,fearing the Lord and always open to the surprising action of the Most Holy Spirit.*
Fasting in African reality:As far as the issue of fasting is concerned,the decisions of the Synod will be announced to all the people in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate shortly,by Patriarchal Encyclicals.*
Regarding the issue of the institution of Deaconesses,it was decided to revive this and a tripartite committee of Hierarchs was appointed for a detailed consideration of the subject.

Patriarch John X of Antioch to the Middle East Council of Churches-excerpts from his address

On 6 September 2016,His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East spoke to the general assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches in Amman,Jordan.The MECC is,in turn,a member of the World Council of Churches.At the general assembly,Patriarch John was elected President of the Orthodox Churches which belong to the Council.There are others who serve as Presidents of the Oriental Orthodox;Catholics;and Evangelicals in the Council.For example,His Holiness Patriarch Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church is President of the Oriental Orthodox.Patriarch John spoke eloquently of their deeply troubled region and of the Middle East Council of Churches' role within it:
We are here to raise our voices against everything done against Christians-and against others,too-in every spot of the East.We are fully aware of what happened to them in Iraq.And we understand the situation in Syria.
We are here to make our cry reach far of our people in Aleppo,Mhardeh and others.What is going on will not make us neglect our land;but it will rather urge us to defend it.We are here to address the whole world in regard to the existence of Christians in the East.We say:we do not appeal to protection;we demand peace.*
The Council is a pattern of open minds through which Eastern Christianity confronts every endeavour to close minds with the protection and sustenance of the Church-civilised heritage of each of its components.We are called to activate the voice of the Council and strengthen it to be continuously the voice for Eastern Christianity at the present time.*
May the Lord bless this East and its countries and give it with the rest of the world a flow of His light and fill the hearts of the participants in this meeting with His abundant and divine mercy,Patriarch John prayed.