Russian pressure forces historic Orthodox summit to meet in Crete
c. 2016 Religion News Service
PARIS (RNS) The first major council of the world’s Eastern Orthodox churches in more than 1,200 years will take place in Crete after the influential Russian Orthodox Church said political tensions between Moscow and Ankara ruled out holding it in Turkey.
The compromise, reached at a recent preparatory meeting held outside Geneva, means the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church will not take place as planned in Hagia Irene, a church-turned-museum in Istanbul where the Council of Constantinople confirmed the Nicene Creed in 381.
