Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

English franais

ENCYCLICAL
OF THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL
OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Crete 2016
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
With a hymn of thanksgiving, we praise and worship God in Trinity, who has enabled us to
gather together during the days of the feast of Pentecost here on the island of Crete, which has
been sanctified by St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and his disciple Titus, his true son in the
common faith (Tit 1.4), and, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to conclude the sessions of
this Holy and Great Council of our Orthodox Church convened by His All-Holiness
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, by the common will of Their Beatitudes the Primates of the
most holy Orthodox Churches for the glory of His most holy Name and for the great blessing
of His people and of the whole world, confessing with the divine Paul: Let people then regard
us thus: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4.1).
The Holy and Great Council of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church constitutes an
authentic witness to faith in Christ, the God-man, the Only-begotten Son and Word of God who,
through His Incarnation, through all His work on earth, through His Sacrifice on the Cross and
through His Resurrection, revealed the Triune God as infinite love. Therefore, with one voice and
one heart we address this message of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3.15) not only to the sons
and daughters of our most holy Church, but also to every human being, whether near or far off
(Eph 2.17). Our hope (cf. 1 Tim 1.1), the Savior of the world, was revealed as God with us
(cf. Matt 1.23) and as God for our sake (Rom 8.32), who desires that all people may be saved
and come to the knowledge of truth (1 Tim 2.4). Proclaiming His mercy and not concealing His

great blessings, in remembrance of the Lords words that heaven and earth will pass away, but
my words will never pass away (Matt 24.35) and filled with joy (1 John 1.4), we announce
the Gospel of faith, hope and love, looking forward to that day without evening, without
succession and without end (Basil the Great, On the Hexaemeron II, PG 29.54). The fact that we
have our citizenship in heaven (Phil 3.20) in no way negates, but rather strengthens our
witness in the world.
In this we follow the tradition of the Apostles and of the Fathers of our Church who proclaimed
Christ and the saving experience through Him of the Churchs faith, and who spoke of God in the
manner of fishermen casting a net, that is to say in an apostolic manner, to the people of every
age in order to transmit to them the Gospel of freedom for which Christ has set us free (cf. Gal
5.1). The Church lives not for herself. She offers herself for the whole of humanity in order to
raise up and renew the world into new heavens and a new earth (cf. Rev 21.1). Hence, she gives
Gospel witness and distributes the gifts of God in the world: His love, peace, justice,
reconciliation, the power of the Resurrection and the expectation of eternal life.
***
I. The Church: Body of Christ, image of the Holy Trinity
1. The one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church is a divine-human communion in the image of the
Holy Trinity, a foretaste and experience of the eschaton in the holy Eucharist and a revelation of
the glory of the things to come, and, as a continuing Pentecost, she is a prophetic voice in this
world that cannot be silenced, the presence and witness of Gods Kingdom that has come with
power (cf. Mark 9.1). The Church, as the body of Christ, gathers the world (Matt 23.37) to
Him, transfigures it and irrigates it with the water welling up to eternal life (John 4.14).
2. The tradition of the Apostles and Fathers following the words of the Lord,the founder of the
Church, who at the Last Supper with his disciples, instituted the sacrament of the holy Eucharist
- highlighted the Churchs characteristic as the body of Christ (Matt 25, 26; Mark 14.22; Luke
22.19; 1 Cor 10.16-17; 11.23-29), and always connected this with the mystery of the Incarnation
of the Son and Word of God from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. In this spirit, emphasis
was always placed on the indissoluble relation both between the entire mystery of the divine
Economy in Christ and the mystery of the Church, and also between the mystery of the Church
and the mystery of the holy Eucharist, which is continually confirmed in the sacramental life of
the Church through the operation of the Holy Spirit.
The Orthodox Church, faithful to this unanimous apostolic tradition and sacramental experience,
constitutes the authentic continuation of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, as this is
confessed in the Symbol of faith and is confirmed in the teaching of the Fathers of the Church.
Thus, she is conscious of her greater responsibility not only to ensure the authentic expression of
this experience in the ecclesial body, but also to offer a trustworthy witness to the truth to all
humankind.
3. The Orthodox Church, in her unity and catholicity, is the Church of Councils, from the
Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15.5-29) to the present day. The Church in herself is a

Council, established by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, in accord with the apostolic words:
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15.28). Through the Ecumenical and Local
councils, the Church has proclaimed and continues to proclaim the mystery of the Holy Trinity,
revealed through the incarnation of the Son and Word of God. The Conciliar work continues
uninterrupted in history through the later councils of universal authority, such as, for example,
the Great Council (879-880) convened at the time of St. Photios the Great, Patriarch of
Constantinople, and also the Great Councils convened at the time of St. Gregory Palamas (1341,
1351, 1368), through which the same truth of faith was confirmed, most especially as concerns
the procession of the Holy Spirit and as concerns the participation of human beings in the
uncreated divine energies, and furthermore through the Holy and Great Councils convened in
Constantinople, in 1484 to refute the unionist Council of Florence (1438-1439), in 1638, 1642,
1672 and 1691 to refute Protestant beliefs, and in 1872 to condemn ethno-phyletism as an
ecclesiological heresy.
4. The holiness of man (anthropos) cannot be conceived apart from the Body of Christ, which is
the Church (cf. Eph 1.23). Holiness proceeds from the One who alone is Holy. It is participation
of mankind in the holiness of God, in the communion of the Saints, as is proclaimed by the
words of the priest during the Divine Liturgy: The Holy Gifts for the holy, and through the
response of the faithful: One is Holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen. In this spirit, Saint Cyril of Alexandria underscores that Christ, Being holy by nature as
God (...) is sanctified on our behalf in the Holy Spirit (...) and (Christ) performed this on our
behalf, not on his own behalf, so that from him and in him, who first received this sanctification,
the grace of being sanctified may thus pass to all humanity ... (Commentary on the Gospel of
John, 11, PG 74, 548).
According to St. Cyril, Christ is our "common person" through the recapitulation in his own
humanity of the entire human race, "for we were all in Christ, and the common person of
humanity comes to life again in him" (Commentary on the Gospel of John, XI, PG 73. 157-161),
and hence also he is the sole source of man's sanctification in the Holy Spirit. In this spirit,
holiness is mans participation both in the sacrament of the Church and also in her sacred
mysteries, with the holy Eucharist at the center, which is a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to
God (cf. Rom 12.1). Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship
or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we
face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But rather, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom 8.35-37). The saints
embody the eschatological identity of the Church as an eternal doxology before the earthly and
heavenly Throne of the King of Glory (Ps 23.7), providing an image of the Kingdom of God.
5. The Orthodox Catholic Church comprises fourteen local Autocephalous Churches, recognized
at a pan-Orthodox level. The principle of autocephaly cannot be allowed to operate at the
expense of the principle of the catholicity and the unity of the Church. We therefore consider that
the creation of the Episcopal Assemblies in the Orthodox Diaspora, comprising all the
recognized canonical bishops, who in each area are appointed to their respective assembly, and
who remain under their canonical jurisdictions, represents a positive step towards their canonical
organization, and the smooth functioning of these assemblies guarantees respect for the
ecclesiological principle of conciliarity.

II. The mission of the Church in the world

6. The apostolic work and the proclamation of the Gospel, also known as mission, belong at the
core of the Churchs identity, as the keeping and observation of Christs commandment: Go and
make disciples of all nations (Matt 28.19). This is the breath of life that the Church breathes
into human society and makes the world into Church through the newly-established local
Churches everywhere. In this spirit, the Orthodox faithful are and ought to be Christs apostles in
the world. This mission must be fulfilled, not aggressively, but freely, with love and respect
towards the cultural identity of individuals and peoples. All Orthodox Churches ought to
participate in this endeavor with due respect for canonical order.
Participation in the holy Eucharist is a source of missionary zeal for the evangelization of the
world. By participating in the holy Eucharist and praying in the Sacred Synaxis for the whole
world (oikoumene), we are called to continue the liturgy after the Liturgy and to offer witness
concerning the truth of our faith before God and mankind, sharing Gods gifts with all mankind,
in obedience to the explicit commandment of our Lord before His Ascension: And you shall be
my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1.8).
The words of the Divine Liturgy prior to Communion, Dismembered and distributed is the
Lamb of God, who is dismembered and not divided, ever eaten, yet never consumed, indicate
that Christ as the Lamb of God (John 1.29) and the Bread of Life (John 6.48) is offered to us
as eternal Love, uniting us to God and to one another. It teaches us to distribute Gods gifts and
to offer ourselves to everyone in a Christ-like way.
The life of Christians is a truthful witness to the renewal in Christ of all things If anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, all things have become new (2
Cor 5.17) and an invitation addressed to all people for personal and free participation in eternal
life, in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the love of God the Father, in order to
experience the communion of the Holy Spirit in the Church. For the mystery of salvation is for
those who desire it, not for those who are being coerced (Maximus Confessor PG 90.880). The
re-evangelization of Gods people in contemporary secularized societies, as well as the
evangelization of those who have not yet come to know Christ, is the unceasing duty of the
Church.
III. The Family: Image of Christs love towards the Church
7. The Orthodox Church regards the indissoluble loving union of man and woman as a great
mystery of Christ and the Church (Eph 5.32) and she regards the family that springs from
this, which constitutes the only guarantee for the birth and upbringing of children in accord with
the plan of divine Economy, as a little Church (John Chrysostom, Commentary of the Letter to
the Ephesians, 20, PG 62.143), giving to it the appropriate pastoral support.
The contemporary crisis in marriage and the family is a consequence of the crisis of freedom as
responsibility, its decline into a self-centered self-realization, its identification with individual
self-gratification, self-sufficiency and autonomy, and the loss of the sacramental character of the
union between man and woman, resulting from forgetfulness of the sacrificial ethos of love.
Contemporary society approaches marriage in a secular way with purely sociological and

realistic criteria, regarding it as a simple form of relationship one among many others all of
which are entitled to equal institutional validity.
Marriage is a Church-nurtured workshop of life in love and an unsurpassed gift of Gods grace.
The high hand of the conjoining God is invisibly present, harmonizing those being joined
together with Christ and with one another. The crowns that are placed on the heads of the bride
and groom during the sacramental rite refer to the dimension of sacrifice and complete devotion
to God and one another. They also point to the life of the Kingdom of God, revealing the
eschatological reference in the mystery of love.
8. The Holy and Great Council addresses itself with particular love and care to children and to
all young people. Amid the medley of mutually contradictory definitions of childhood, our most
holy Church presents the words of our Lord: Unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18.3) and whoever does not receive the kingdom of
God like a child shall not enter it (Luke 18.17), as well as what our Savior says about those who
prevent (Luke 18.16) children from approaching Him and about those who scandalize them
(Matt 18.6).
To young people the Church offers not simply help but truth, the truth of the new divinehuman life in Christ. Orthodox youthshould become aware that they are bearers of the centuriesold and blessed tradition of the Orthodox Church and also the continuers of this tradition who
will courageously preserve and will cultivate in a dynamic way the eternal values of Orthodoxy
in order to give life-giving Christian witness. From among them will come the future ministers of
the Church of Christ. The young people thus are not simply the future of the Church, but also
the active expression of her God-loving and human-loving life in the present.
IV. Education in Christ
9. In our time, new tendencies can be observed in the realm of upbringing and education in
regard to the content and aims of education as well as in the way childhood, the role of both
teacher and student and the role of the contemporary school are viewed. Since education relates
not only to what man is, but also to what man should be and to the content of his responsibility, it
is self-evident that the image we have of the human person and the meaning of existence
determine our view of his education. The dominant secularized individualistic educational
system that troubles young people today is of deep concern to the Orthodox Church.
At the center of the Churchs pastoral concern is an education that looks not only to the
cultivation of the intellect, but also to the edification and development of the whole person as a
psycho-somatic and spiritual being in accordance with the triptych, God, man and world. In her
catechetical discourse, the Orthodox Church caringly calls on the people of God, especially the
young people, to a conscious and active participation in the life of the Church, cultivating in
them the excellent desire for life in Christ. Thus, the fullness of the Christian people finds an
existential support in the divine-human communion of the Church and experiences in this the
resurrectional perspective of theosis by grace.
V. The Church in the face of contemporary challenges

10. The Church of Christ today finds herself confronted by extreme or even provocative
expressions of the ideology of secularization, inherent in political, cultural and social
developments. A basic element of the ideology of secularization has ever been and continues to
be the full autonomy of man from Christ and from the spiritual influence of the Church, by the
arbitrary identification of the Church with conservatism and by the historically unjustified
characterization of the Church as an alleged impediment to all progress and development. In
contemporary secularized societies, man, cut off from God, identifies his freedom and the
meaning of his life with absolute autonomy and with release from his eternal destiny, resulting in
a series of misunderstandings and deliberate misinterpretations of the Christian tradition. The
bestowal on man from above of freedom in Christ and his advancement to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4.13) is thus seen to go against mans tendencies for selfsalvation. Christs sacrificial love is regarded as incompatible with individualism while the
ascetic character of the Christian ethos is judged as an unbearable challenge to the happiness of
the individual.
The identification of the Church with conservatism, incompatible with the advancement of
civilization, is arbitrary and improper, since the consciousness of the identity of the Christian
peoples bears the indelible imprint of the diachronic contribution of the Church, not only in their
cultural heritage, but also in the healthy development of secular civilization more generally, since
God placed man as steward of the divine creation and as a co-worker with Him in the world. The
Orthodox Church sets against the man-god of the contemporary world the God-man as the
ultimate measure of all things. We do not speak of a man who has been deified, but of God who
has become man (John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith iii, 2 PG
94.988). The Church reveals the saving truth of the God-man and His body, the Church, as the
locus and mode of life in freedom, speaking the truth in love (cf. Eph 4.15), and as
participation even now on earth in the life of the resurrected Christ. The divine-human character
[not of the world (John 18.36)] of the Church, which nourishes and guides her presence and
witness in the world, is incompatible with any kind of conformation of the Church to the world
(cf. Rom 12.2).
11. Through the contemporary development of science and technology, our life is changing
radically. And what brings about a change in the life of man demands discernment on his part,
since, apart from significant benefits, such as the facilitation of everyday life, the successful
treatment of serious diseases and space exploration, we are also confronted with the negative
consequences of scientific progress. The dangers are the manipulation of human freedom, the use
of man as a simple means, the gradual loss of precious traditions, and threats to, or even the
destruction of, the natural environment.
Unfortunately, science, by its very nature, does not possess the necessary means to prevent or
address many of the problems it creates directly or indirectly. Scientific knowledge does not
motivate mans moral will, and even though aware of the dangers, he continues to act as if
unaware of them. The answer to mans serious existential and moral problems and to the eternal
meaning of his life and of the world cannot be given without a spiritual approach.
12. In our age, there is a very prevalent enthusiasm for the impressive developments in the fields
of Biology, Genetics and Neurophysiology. These represent scientific advances, the wide-ranging

applications of which will, in all likelihood, create serious anthropological and moral dilemmas.
The uncontrolled use of biotechnology at the beginning, during, and at the end of life, endangers
its authentic fullness. Man is experimenting ever more intensively with his own very nature in an
extreme and dangerous way. He is in danger of being turned into a biological machine, into an
impersonal social unit or into a mechanical device of controlled thought.
The Orthodox Church cannot remain on the sidelines of discussions about such momentous
anthropological, ethical and existential matters. She rests firmly on divinely taught criteria and
reveals the relevance of Orthodox anthropology in the face of the contemporary overturning of
values. Our Church can and must express in the world her prophetic consciousness in Christ
Jesus, who with His Incarnation assumed the whole man and is the ultimate prototype for the
renewal of the human race. She projects the sacredness of life and mans character as a person
from the very moment of conception. The right to be born is the first of human rights. The
Church as a divine-human society, in which each human constitutes a unique being destined for
personal communion with God, and she resists every attempt to objectify man, to turn him into a
measurable quantity. No scientific achievement is permitted to compromise mans dignity and
his divine destination. Man is not defined only by his genes.
Bioethics from an Orthodox point of view is founded on this basis. At a time of conflicting
images of man, Orthodox bioethics, in opposition to secular autonomous and reductionist
anthropological views, insists on mans creation in Gods image and likeness and his eternal
destiny. The Church thus contributes to the enrichment of the philosophical and scientific
discussion of bioethical questions through her scriptural anthropology and the spiritual
experience of Orthodoxy.
13. In a global society, oriented towards having and individualism, the Orthodox Catholic
Church presents the truth of life in and according to Christ, the truth freely made incarnate in the
everyday life of each man through his works till evening (Ps 103), through which he is made
co-worker of the eternal Father [We are co-workers with God (1 Cor 3.9)] and of His Son
[My Father is working still, and I am working (John 5.17)]. The grace of God sanctifies in the
Holy Spirit the works of the hands of the man who works together with God, revealing the
affirmation in them of life and of human society. Christian asceticism is to be placed within this
framework; this differs radically from all dualistic asceticism that severs man from life and from
his fellow man. Christian asceticism and the exercise of self-restraint, which connect man with
the sacramental life of the Church, do not concern only the monastic life, but are characteristic of
ecclesial life in all its manifestations, as a tangible witness to the presence of the eschatological
spirit in the blessed life of the faithful.
14. The roots of the ecological crisis are spiritual and ethical, inhering within the heart of each
man. This crisis has become more acute in recent centuries on account of the various divisions
provoked by human passions such as greed, avarice, egotism and the insatiable desire for more
and by their consequences for the planet, as with climate change, which now threatens to a
large extent the natural environment, our common home. The rupture in the relationship
between man and creation is a perversion of the authentic use of Gods creation. The approach to
the ecological problem on the basis of the principles of the Christian tradition demands not only
repentance for the sin of the exploitation of the natural resources of the planet, namely, a radical

change in mentality and behavior, but also asceticism as an antidote to consumerism, the
deification of needs and the acquisitive attitude. It also presupposes our greatest responsibility to
hand down a viable natural environment to future generations and to use it according to divine
will and blessing. In the sacraments of the Church, creation is affirmed and man is encouraged to
act as a steward, protector and priest of creation, offering it by way of doxology to the Creator
Your own of your own we offer to You in all and for all and cultivating a Eucharistic
relationship with creation. This Orthodox, Gospel and Patristic approach also turns our attention
to the social dimensions and the tragic consequences of the destruction of the natural
environment.
VI. The Church in the face of globalization, the phenomenon of extreme violence and
migration
15. The contemporary ideology of globalization, which is being imposed imperceptibly and
expanding rapidly, is already provoking powerful shocks to the economy and to society on a
world-wide scale. Its imposition has created new forms of systematic exploitation and social
injustice; it has planned the gradual neutralization of the impediments from opposing national,
religious, ideological and other traditions and has already led to the weakening or complete
reversal of social acquisitions on the pretext of the allegedly necessary readjustment of the global
economy, widening thus the gap between rich and poor, undermining the social cohesion of
peoples and fanning new fires of global tensions.
In opposition to the levelling and impersonal standardization promoted by globalization, and also
to the extremes of nationalism, the Orthodox Church proposes the protection of the identities of
peoples and the strengthening of local identity. As an alternative example for the unity of
mankind, she proposes the articulated organization of the Church on the basis of the equality of
the local Churches. The Church is opposed to the provocative threat to contemporary man and
the cultural traditions of peoples that globalization involves and the principle of the autonomy
of the economy or economism, that is, the autonomization of the economy from mans
essential needs and its transformation into an end in itself. She therefore proposes a viable
economy founded on the principles of the Gospel. Thus, guided by the words of the Lord, man
shall not live by bread alone (Luke 4.4), the Church does not connect the progress of mankind
only with an increase in living standards or with economic development at the expense of
spiritual values.
16. The Church does not involve herself with politics in the narrow sense of the term. Her
witness, however, is essentially political insofar as it expresses concern for man and his spiritual
freedom. The voice of the Church was always distinct and will ever remain a beneficial
intervention for the sake of humanity. The local Orthodox Churches are today called to promote a
new constructive synergy with the secular state and its rule of law within the new framework of
international relations, in accordance with the biblical saying: Render to Caesar the things that
are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods (cf. Matt 22.21). This synergy must, however,
preserve the specific identity of both Church and state and ensure their earnest cooperation in
order to preserve man's unique dignity and the human rights which flow therefrom, and in order
to assure social justice.

Human rights are today at the center of political debate as a response to contemporary social and
political crises and upheavals and in order to protect the freedom of the individual. The approach
to human rights on the part of the Orthodox Church centers on the danger of individual rights
falling into individualism and a culture of rights. A perversion of this kind functions at the
expense of the social content of freedom and leads to the arbitrary transformation of rights into
claims for happiness, as well as the elevation of the precarious identification of freedom with
individual license into a universal value that undermines the foundations of social values, of
the family, of religion, of the nation and threatens fundamental moral values.
Accordingly, the Orthodox understanding of man is opposed both to the arrogant apotheosis of
the individual and his rights, and to the humiliating debasement of the human person within the
vast contemporary structures of economy, society, politics and communication. The tradition of
Orthodoxy is an inexhaustible source of vital truths for mankind. No one has honored man and
cared for him as much as the God-man Christ and his Church. A fundamental human right is the
protection of the principle of religious freedom in all its aspects--namely, the freedom of
conscience, belief, and religion, including, alone and in community, in private and in public, the
right to freedom of worship and practice, the right to manifest one's religion, as well as the right
of religious communities to religious education and to the full function and exercise of their
religious duties, without any form of direct or indirect interference by the state.
17. We are experiencing today an increase of violence in the name of God. The explosions of
fundamentalism within religious communities threaten to create the view that fundamentalism
belongs to the essence of the phenomenon of religion. The truth, however, is that
fundamentalism, as zeal not based on knowledge (Rom 10.2), constitutes an expression of
morbid religiosity. A true Christian, following the example of the crucified Lord, sacrifices
himself and does not sacrifice others, and for this reason is the most stringent critic of
fundamentalism of whatever provenance. Honest interfaith dialogue contributes to the
development of mutual trust and to the promotion of peace and reconciliation. The Church
strives to make the peace from on high more tangibly felt on earth. True peace is not achieved
by force of arms, but only through love that does not seek its own (1 Cor 13.5). The oil of faith
must be used to soothe and heal the wounds of others, not to rekindle new fires of hatred.
18. The Orthodox Church follows with much pain and prayer and takes note of the great
contemporary humanitarian crisis: the proliferation of violence and military conflicts; the
persecution, exile and murder of members of religious minorities; the violent displacement of
families from their homelands; the tragedy of human trafficking; the violation of the dignity and
fundamental rights of individuals and peoples, and forced conversions. She condemns
unconditionally the abductions, tortures, and abhorrent executions. She denounces the
destruction of places of worship, religious symbols and cultural monuments.
The Orthodox Church is particularly concerned about the situation facing Christians, and other
persecuted ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East. In particular, she addresses an
appeal to governments in that region to protect the Christian populations Orthodox, Ancient
Eastern and other Christians who have survived in the cradle of Christianity. The indigenous
Christian and other populations enjoy the inalienable right to remain in their countries as citizens
with equal rights.

We therefore urge all parties involved, irrespective of religious convictions, to work for
reconciliation and respect for human rights, first of all through the protection of the divine gift of
life. The war and bloodshed must be brought to an end and justice must prevail so that peace can
be restored and so that it becomes possible for those who have been exiled to return to their
ancestral lands. We pray for peace and justice in the suffering countries of Africa and in the
troubled country of Ukraine. We reiterate most emphatically in conciliar unity our appeal to
those responsible to free the two bishops who have been abducted in Syria, Paul Yazigi and John
brahim. We pray also for the release of all our brothers and sisters being held hostage or in
captivity.
19. The contemporary and ever intensifying refugee and migrant crisis, due to political,
economic and environmental causes, is at the center of the worlds attention. The Orthodox
Church has always treated and continues to treat those who are persecuted, in danger and in need
on the basis of the Lords words: I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me to drink, and was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was
sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me, and Truly I tell you, whatever you did
for one of the least of these my brethren, you did for me (Matt 25.40). Throughout its history,
the Church was always on the side of the weary and heavy laden (cf. Matt 11.28). At no time
was the Churchs philanthropic work limited merely to circumstantial good deeds toward the
needy and suffering, but rather it sought to eradicate the causes which create social problems.
The Churchs work of service (Eph 4.12) is recognized by everyone.
We appeal therefore first of all to those able to remove the causes for the creation of the refugee
crisis to take the necessary positive decisions. We call on the civil authorities, the Orthodox
faithful and the other citizens of the countries in which they have sought refuge and continue to
seek refuge to accord them every possible assistance, even from out of their own insufficiency.
VII. Church: witness in dialogue
20. The Church manifests sensitivity towards those who have severed themselves from
communion with her and is concerned for those who do not understand her voice. Conscious that
she constitutes the living presence of Christ in the world, the Church translates the divine
economy into concrete actions using all means at her disposal to give a trustworthy witness to the
truth, in the precision of the apostolic faith. In this spirit of recognition of the need for witness
and offering, the Orthodox Church has always attached great importance to dialogue, and
especially to that with non-Orthodox Christians. Through this dialogue, the rest of the Christian
world is now more familiar with Orthodoxy and the authenticity of its tradition. It also knows
that the Orthodox Church has never accepted theological minimalism or permitted its dogmatic
tradition and evangelical ethos to be called into question. Inter-Christian dialogues have provided
Orthodoxy with the opportunity to display her respect for the teaching of the Fathers and to bear
a trustworthy witness to the genuine tradition of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
The multilateral dialogues undertaken by the Orthodox Church have never signified, and do not
signify, nor will they ever signify, any compromise in matters of faith. These dialogues are a
witness to Orthodoxy, grounded on the Gospel message come and see (John 1.46), see, namely,
that "God is love" (1 John 4.8).

***
In this spirit, the Orthodox Church throughout the world, being the revelation of the Kingdom of
God in Christ, experiences the entire mystery of the divine Economy in her sacramental life, with
the holy Eucharist at its center, in which she offers to us not nourishment that is perishable and
corruptible, but the very life-streaming Body of the Lord, the heavenly Bread which is a
medicine of immortality, an antidote for not dying but living in God through Jesus Christ, and a
purgative expelling evil (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, 20, PG 5.756). The holy
Eucharist constitutes the innermost core also of the conciliar functioning of the ecclesial body,
as well as the authentic confirmation of the Orthodoxy of the faith of the Church, as Saint
Irenaeus of Lyon proclaims: Our teaching is in accord with the Eucharist and the Eucharist
confirms our teaching (Against Heresies, 4. 18, PG 7.1028).
Proclaiming the Gospel to all the world in accord with the Lords command and preaching in
His name repentance and remission of sins to all the nations (Luke 22.47), we have the
obligation to commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God and to love
one another, confessing with one mind: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and
undivided. Addressing these things in Council to the children throughout the world of our most
holy Orthodox Church, as well as to the entire world, following the holy Fathers and the
Conciliar decrees so as to preserve the faith received from our fathers and to uphold good ways
in our daily life in the hope of the common resurrection, we glorify God in three hypostases with
divine songs:
O Father almighty, and Word and Spirit, one nature united in three persons, God beyond
being and beyond divinity, in You we have been baptized, and You we bless to the ages of
ages. (Paschal Canon, Ode 8.)
Bartholomew of Constantinople, Chairman
Theodoros of Alexandria
Theophilos of Jerusalem
Irinej of Serbia
Daniel of Romania
Chrysostomos of Cyprus
Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece
Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland
Anastasios of Tirana, Durres and All Albania
Rastislav of Presov, the Czech Lands and Slovakia

Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Leo of Karelia and All Finland
Stephanos of Tallinn and All Estonia
Elder Metropolitan John of Pergamon
Elder Archbishop Demetrios of America
Augustinos of Germany
Irenaios of Crete
Isaiah of Denver
Alexios of Atlanta
Iakovos of the Princes Islands
Joseph of Proikonnisos
Meliton of Philadelphia
Emmanuel of France
Nikitas of the Dardanelles
Nicholas of Detroit
Gerasimos of San Francisco
Amphilochios of Kisamos and Selinos
Amvrosios of Korea
Maximos of Selyvria
Amphilochios of Adrianopolis
Kallistos of Diokleia
Antony of Hierapolis, Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox in the USA
Job of Telmessos

 Jean of Charioupolis, Head of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of the
Russian Tradition in Western Europe
Gregory of Nyssa, Head of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox in the USA
Delegation of the Patriarchate of Alexandria
Gabriel of Leontopolis
Makarios of Nairobi
Jonah of Kampala
Seraphim of Zimbabwe and Angola
Alexandros of Nigeria
Theophylaktos of Tripoli
Sergios of Good Hope
Athanasios of Cyrene
Alexios of Carthage
Ieronymos of Mwanza
George of Guinea
Nicholas of Hermopolis
Dimitrios of Irinopolis
Damaskinos of Johannesburg and Pretoria
Narkissos of Accra
Emmanouel of Ptolemaidos
Gregorios of Cameroon
Nicodemos of Memphis
Meletios of Katanga
Panteleimon of Brazzaville and Gabon

 Innokentios of Burudi and Rwanda

Crysostomos of Mozambique
Neofytos of Nyeri and Mount Kenya
Delegation of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Benedict of Philadelphia
Aristarchos of Constantine
Theophylaktos of Jordan
Nektarios of Anthidon
Philoumenos of Pella
Delegation of the Church of Serbia
Jovan of Ohrid and Skopje
Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral
Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana
Vasilije of Sirmium
Lukijan of Budim
Longin of Nova Gracanica
Irinej of Backa
Hrizostom of Zvornik and Tuzla
Justin of Zica
Pahomije of Vranje
Jovan of Sumadija
Ignatije of Branicevo
Fotije of Dalmatia

 Athanasios of Bihac and Petrovac

Joanikije of Niksic and Budimlje
Grigorije of Zahumlje and Hercegovina
Milutin of Valjevo
Maksim in Western America
Irinej in Australia and New Zealand
David of Krusevac
Jovan of Slavonija
Andrej in Austria and Switzerland
Sergije of Frankfurt and in Germany
Ilarion of Timok
Delegation of the Church of Romania
Teofan of Iasi, Moldova and Bucovina
Laurentiu of Sibiu and Transylvania
Andrei of Vad, Feleac, Cluj, Alba, Crisana and Maramures
Irineu of Craiova and Oltenia
Ioan of Timisoara and Banat
Iosif in Western and Southern Europe
Serafim in Germany and Central Europe
Nifon of Targoviste
Irineu of Alba Iulia
Ioachim of Roman and Bacau
Casian of Lower Danube

 Timotei of Arad
Nicolae in America
Sofronie of Oradea
Nicodim of Strehaia and Severin
Visarion of Tulcea
Petroniu of Salaj
Siluan in Hungary
Siluan in Italy
Timotei in Spain and Portugal
Macarie in Northern Europe
Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch
Emilian Lovisteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Ramnic
Ioan Casian of Vicina, Assistant Bishop to the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the
Americas
Delegation of the Church of Cyprus
Georgios of Paphos
Chrysostomos of Kition
Chrysostomos of Kyrenia
Athanasios of Limassol
Neophytos of Morphou
Vasileios of Constantia and Ammochostos
Nikiphoros of Kykkos and Tillyria
Isaias of Tamassos and Oreini
Barnabas of Tremithousa and Lefkara

 Christophoros of Karpasion
Nektarios of Arsinoe
Nikolaos of Amathus
Epiphanios of Ledra
Leontios of Chytron
Porphyrios of Neapolis
Gregory of Mesaoria
Delegation of the Church of Greece
Prokopios of Philippi, Neapolis and Thassos
Chrysostomos of Peristerion
Germanos of Eleia
Alexandros of Mantineia and Kynouria
Ignatios of Arta
Damaskinos of Didymoteixon, Orestias and Soufli
Alexios of Nikaia
Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Aghios Vlasios
Eusebios of Samos and Ikaria
Seraphim of Kastoria
Ignatios of Demetrias and Almyros
Nicodemos of Kassandreia
Ephraim of Hydra, Spetses and Aegina
Theologos of Serres and Nigrita
Makarios of Sidirokastron

 Anthimos of Alexandroupolis
Barnabas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis
Chrysostomos of Messenia
Athenagoras of Ilion, Acharnon and Petroupoli
Ioannis of Lagkada, Litis and Rentinis
Gabriel of New Ionia and Philadelphia
Chrysostomos of Nikopolis and Preveza
Theoklitos of Ierissos, Mount Athos and Ardameri
Delegation of the Church of Poland
Simon of Lodz and Poznan
Abel of Lublin and Chelm
Jacob of Bialystok and Gdansk
George of Siemiatycze
Paisios of Gorlice
Delegation of the Church of Albania
Joan of Koritsa
Demetrios of Argyrokastron
Nikolla of Apollonia and Fier
Andon of Elbasan
Nathaniel of Amantia
Asti of Bylis
Delegation of the Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia
Michal of Prague

 Isaiah of Sumperk
Jeremy of Switzerland, Chief of the Panorthodox Secretariat of the Holy and Great Council