Holy Council

Orthodox Churches mark 10th anniversary of historic Holy and Great Council of Crete

Tuesday, June 16, marks the tenth anniversary of the Holy and Great Council of Crete, the only gathering of its kind held by the Orthodox Church in the 21st century. The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church brought together hierarchs from ten of the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox Churches on the island of Crete.…

Jun 16, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Nine years since the Holy and Great Council: Romanian Orthodox Church’s consistent contribution

Monday marks nine years since the opening of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which brought together hierarchs from ten autocephalous Orthodox Churches in Crete. The Romanian delegation included 25 hierarchs. The Council took place between June 16–26, 2016, preceded by a preparatory working committee from June 9–16. Key topics addressed included:…

Jun 16, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

25 Years since the canonical revival of the Orthodox Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania

  Although formal freedom was already restored to the country, the beginning of the 1990s was a dramatic time period for the Community of the Orthodox faithful in Albania, informs orthodoxalbania.org. There was no surviving bishop, and no potential candidate who could be ordained to such a rank; only 15 retired and ailing clergy remained.…

Jun 28, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

The visit of His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem to Constantinople and Cappadocia

The visit of His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos at the Ecumenical Patriarchate and later on to Cappadocia began on Friday, 16th June 2017. According to www.jp-newsgate.net, His Beatitude was invited by the All-Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos for this visit, as the latter has undertaken pilgrimage tours to Churches and Holy Monasteries…

Jun 20, 2017Iulian Dumitraşcu

Faculty of Orthodox Theology holds Seminar in Bucharest on the Holy and Great Council

The Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest organized Thursday a seminar entitled Reception of the decisions of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. Professors of Theology presented reports in which they analyzed the official documents adopted by the Council of Crete. The event marked the first anniversary of the Holy…

Jun 16, 2017Aurelian Iftimiu

Communique: Any clarification regarding faith must be made in ecclesial communion, not in disunion

Please find below the position of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church about recent evolutions in Romania regarding reception of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (Crete, 2016): During the working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, gathered on Friday, 16 December 2016, under the chairmanship…

Dec 22, 2016Aurelian Iftimiu

Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit With a hymn of thanksgiving, we praise and worship God in Trinity, who has enabled us to gather together during the days of the feast of Pentecost here on the island of Crete, which has been sanctified by St. Paul,…

Aug 2, 2016Iulian Dumitraşcu

Relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian World (Final document)

The Orthodox Church, as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, in her profound ecclesiastical self-consciousness, believes unflinchingly that she occupies a central place in the matter of the promotion of Christian unity in the world today. The Orthodox Church founds the unity of the Church on the fact of her establishment by our Lord…

Jun 27, 2016Gheorghe Anghel

Prayer and hospitality at the Metropolis of Kissamos and Selino, Crete

The participation in the Divine Liturgy of the delegations of the Orthodox Churches in the Holy and Great Council in Crete, at the metropolitan cathedral Annunciation of the Theotokos in Kissamos, followed on the eve of the Pentecost by the commemoration of the departed ones, especially those who worked for the preparation of the Holy…

Jun 18, 2016Iulian Dumitraşcu