“At the Primates’ meeting and gathering in Canterbury this past January, all of us who were there were deeply aware of the prayers for our work not only from Anglicans around the world, but also from our ecumenical friends. The many messages and gestures of prayerful support received from leaders and other Christians was one of the many graces of that time in Canterbury.
That’ll be the day!
Yes, indeed, prayers are needed. There is an article here well worth reading about significant Orthodox concerns with this gathering: http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2016/Holy Synod Response to Preconciliar Documents en.pdf
1) Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World – “At no point does the text heed the example of the Holy Fathers, Councils and Canons of the Church in identifying the division between Christian peoples as arising from schism and heresy (terms which, most surprisingly, do not appear in the text at all); that is, in terms of increasing degrees of severance and departure from Christ’s Body and Truth.1 Instead, the document takes the para-ecclesiological approach of locating division within a broadly-defined concept of “Christian unity†(cf. art. 4), which itself becomes an ambiguous phrase used to imply a paramount “unity of believers in Christ†(ibid.) that extends beyond the “One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church†and incorporates many other confessions.2”
2) The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World – “In summary, we wish to stress that this document on the mission of the Church says much that is good: its emphasis on the proper exercise of human freedom, the pursuit of peace and justice,the struggles against discrimination, the identification of multitudinous problems with the secular and consumerist ideologies of our present culture, and so forth — these are all laudable and Godpleasing
aims. But they must not be met through the application of flawed anthropological and theological concepts. The phrase “human person†should be replaced throughout with the more satisfactory “manâ€, especially in key phrases like “the value of the human person†(art. 1.iii). Similarly, other ambiguous or improperly-applied anthropological terms should be carefully scrutinized and corrected (such as the use of “genderâ€, when in fact “sex†is meant; cf. Preface, art. 5[ii, iii]).”
3) A Word on the Procedures and Authority of the Council – “Finally, a word must be said on the operational procedures established for the Council, with reference to the authority any documents it may approve will have within the Orthodox world. … We are not the first to note the flawed ecclesiological statement present in Article 22 of the document “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian Worldâ€, which claims that “the preservation of the true Orthodox faith is only possible thanks to the conciliar structure
which since ancient times has been for the Church the strong and final criterion in matters of faithâ€. The Holy Councils of the Church, even those deemed Ecumenical in the consciousness of the Church, have never been “the strong and final criterion in matters of faith,†but rather the Spiritled confirmation of the one criterion of faith which is the express Will of Christ. The true Orthodox faith is not preserved “only … thanks to the conciliar structure†of the Church, but through the unwavering, active headship of Christ over His Body, which properly constituted and prayerfully unified Councils manifest rather than determine. …This is accomplished through the charismatic, Apostolic grace bestowed upon the Hierarchs of the Church, which in conciliar prayer and reflection mystically discloses the Will of God Who speaks in and through His ministers. For this reason, those councils which have been assessed by the Church as having binding authority on her work and life are those in which the full freedom of this episcopal grace is preserved. Each bishop equally manifests the Apostolic charism, and in council each bishop is freely able to raise his voice in the plenitude of that assembly. Only in such a manner have councils been able to say It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15.28) and proclaim authoritatively the Will of the Lord. … The determinations made through the Pre-Conciliar process and the decision of the
Primates of the Autocephalous Churches, spelled out in Articles 3, 12 and 13 of the “Organisation and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church†document, make
clear that the Pan-Orthodox gathering to take place this year will not be a council of this nature.”
For those with further interest, documents related to the Meeting are noted here: http://jordanville.org/news_160511_1.html
dwstroudmd
Thanks for the link to the master list of documents at HT Monastery.