Russian Orthodox Church praises global council boycotted by leaders
The Russian Orthodox Church, whose boycott of a major summit of Orthodox Christian leaders threatened to slow down efforts to promote greater unity, has declared the meeting “an important event in the history of the conciliar process.”
The church’s synod, in its official reaction to the June 20–26 Holy and Great Council in Crete, also said the meeting could not be called “pan-Orthodox” because four of the 14 independent Orthodox member churches did not attend.
The Moscow Patriarchate, which represents between half and two-thirds of the world’s 300 million Orthodox, has been disputing the summit’s pan-Orthodox character since announcing its boycott in early June. Officials at the council said Russia’s Patriarch Kirill could not come to Crete because archconservatives in his ranks opposed it.
