Preparation of the Council and Its Agenda

English

Orthodox Vision of the Modern World. Context, Нistory and Meaning of the Synodal Document on Church Mission

The paper deals with the history and the theological context of the document “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World,” to be presented and adopted by the Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016. The paper makes an overview of Western-Christian and Eastern Orthodox intellectual and theological resources that had an impact upon the discussions over the document and its final text. Debates and arguments that occurred throughout the process showed various theological and political orientations existing within the Orthodox churches.

Controversial Ecclesiological Issues of the Pan-Orthodox Council Agenda and the Question of Sovereign Power in the Orthodox Church

The article discusses ecclesiological issues that were included in the agenda of Pan-Orthodox Council but found no solution in the pre-conciliar debates: the Orthodox Diaspora; proclamation of autocephaly; the role of the Diptychs. The author then examines the issue of primacy in the Universal Church. All these questions can be combined and connected with the issue of the supreme or sovereign power in the Orthodox Church: its localization and mechanics for the implementation.

’The Calendar Question’: Conciliar Discussions Throughout History and Today

This article examines the role of church councils in reaching a common date for Easter in the first millennium (the Quartodeciman debates, the First Ecumenical Council and after), as well as attempts towards a pan-Orthodox solution of the calendar issue in the 20th century (with a special focus on Russia).

The Agenda of Vatican II Council and of Pan-Orthodox Council it the Preparatory Period: Parallels and Differences

The article compares the agenda of the II Vatican Council of the Catholic Church (1962 – 1965) and the themes of the Pan-Orthodox Council during many years of its preparation. The author points to the thematic parallelism of the two conciliar processes, which reflected the desire of the Catholic and Orthodox churches to respond to the challenges of contemporary world.

History of the Preparation of the Pan-Orthodox Council

The present article addresses the history of the preparations of the Pan-Orthodox Council since 1923, when the Pan-Orthodox Conference was held in Istanbul, until January 2016, when the Synaxis of the Primates was held in Chambésy, Switzerland. This article describes distinctive features and main events of the pre-conciliar process at its different stages as well as retraces the formation of the Council’s agenda and the evolution of its preparatory procedure.