Serbian Patriarchate refuses to participate in the Pan-Orthodox Council unless it is postponed

The Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church informed about its proposal to postpone the Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled for mid- June in Crete, reports the official site of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Letter of the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church Letter to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the coordinator of the Council, reads: "Our Church feels it difficult to participate in the summoned Holy and Great Synod, and proposes that it be postponed for a certain time: while our pending gathering at Crete, with the help of God, would be regarded as a pre-Synodal inter-Orthodox consultation with the aim of additionally preparing the Synod and improving its texts, or, at the most, as the inaugural phase of the whole Synodal process, which is to be completed in subsequent continuation, in the next phase, when all disagreements are removed in favor of unity of mind and consensus of Churches ."

The Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church expressed the opinion that before the convening of this historic forum it is necessary to eliminate differences of the particular Churches, to reach a consensus and finalize the draft documents to be adopted at the Council.

We recall that the holding of the Pan-Orthodox Council, which has been prepared for more than 60 years and is due to go in Crete in the second half of June, was called into question after the Bulgarian and Antiochian Churches refused to participate in it. The Moscow Patriarchate has offered to hold an emergency Pre-Council meeting no later than June 10 and pointed out that the non-participation in the Council at least one of the particular Churches makes it impossible to go. However, the Patriarchate of Constantinople rejected a proposal to discuss the problems impeding the implementation of the event, and said that it will take place, despite the reluctance of a number of churches to participate in it.

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