ROC questions Pan-Orthodox status of the upcoming Council
On June 9 Head of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church, Society and Mass Media of the Russian Orthodox Church Vladimir Legoyda told television channel "Russia-24" that the withdrawal of a number of churches from participation in the Pan-Orthodox Council questions its status.
"It is difficult to talk about the status of the Pan-Orthodox Council," said the cleric. He explained that the upcoming Council "would rather be called inter-Orthodox Assembly than the Pan-Orthodox Council".
The head of the Synodal Department focused on the fact that, according to the Rules of the Council, all decisions at it are to be taken by consensus. "If at least one of the churches is against, it means that a document is not accepted in this case, how can one talk about the pan-Orthodox agreement, if three of the Churches are not simply going to it!" said the representative of the Church.
We recall that so far the Bulgarian, Serbian and Antiochian Churches have refused to participate in the Pan-Orthodox.