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World Orthodox leaders meet despite Russia's absence
Source: Associated Press
World Orthodox leaders meet despite Russia's absence
By DEREK GATOPOULOS and DEMETRIS NELLAS
Jun. 19, 2016 2:08 PM EDT
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The leaders of the world's Orthodox Christian churches have gathered on the Greek island of Crete for a landmark meeting, despite a boycott by the Russian church — the most populous in a religion of some 300 million people — and three other churches.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew led prayers attended by other church leaders Sunday on the eve of the weeklong summit — the first of its kind in more than 1,200 years.
Despite decades of preparation, Orthodox leaders failed ahead of the meeting in Crete to overcome differences. They include efforts to reconcile with the Vatican and areas of influence that typically predate current national borders.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is not attending the meetings, arguing that preparation had been inadequate. Serbia's Church leadership did attend despite having close ties with the Russian Church, but the Georgian, Bulgarian and Syria-based Antioch patriarchates skipped the synod.
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By DEREK GATOPOULOS and DEMETRIS NELLAS
Jun. 19, 2016 2:08 PM EDT
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The leaders of the world's Orthodox Christian churches have gathered on the Greek island of Crete for a landmark meeting, despite a boycott by the Russian church — the most populous in a religion of some 300 million people — and three other churches.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew led prayers attended by other church leaders Sunday on the eve of the weeklong summit — the first of its kind in more than 1,200 years.
Despite decades of preparation, Orthodox leaders failed ahead of the meeting in Crete to overcome differences. They include efforts to reconcile with the Vatican and areas of influence that typically predate current national borders.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is not attending the meetings, arguing that preparation had been inadequate. Serbia's Church leadership did attend despite having close ties with the Russian Church, but the Georgian, Bulgarian and Syria-based Antioch patriarchates skipped the synod.
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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9af061a89deb4bba802cbc46fb3015ab/world-orthodox-leaders-meet-despite-russias-absence