The view that a Pan-Orthodox Council should be convened “even if some local Churches are absent” was expressed once again by the Church of Albania.
In a new statement on the Internet, the Church of Albania clarifies that “it will not be seduced into the method of recriminations, appeals, insults, inaccuracies, and reproaches, as attempted by unqualified laymen on websites.”
The Church stressed that the ecclesiastical problems that have arisen lately “are not solved by the method of chain reprisals from certain Churches and by collecting consents from the rest through the media.”
She also underlined that the opinion of the Church of Albania will be submitted to the competent body “the Pan-Orthodox Council or Synaxis, which, according to the principle of synodality, is the only one able to solve basic problems and ensure the unity and peace of the Orthodox Church around the world”.
Read below the announcement of the Church of Albania
In a new statement on the Internet, the Church of Albania clarifies that “it will not be seduced into the method of recriminations, appeals, insults, inaccuracies, and reproaches, as attempted by unqualified laymen on websites.”
The Orthodox Church of Albania, therefore, declares in all directions that it is not willing to speak on the Internet and in general in the media about its views and judgments regarding the attitude and behavior of other local Orthodox Churches and their Primates.
The painful ecclesiastical problems that have arisen in recent years and recently in Africa, resulting in clear cracks in the relations of the local Orthodox Churches and the widespread concern of Orthodox believers, are not solved by the method of chain retaliation by certain Churches and by collecting consents from the rest through the media.
The responsible opinion of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania is expressed in the official ecclesiastical correspondence, in the announcements of the Chief Secretariat and will be directly submitted to the competent body, the Pan-Orthodox Council or Synaxis, which, according to the principle of synodality, is the only one able to solve basic problems and ensure the unity and peace of the Orthodox Church around the world.
As the unprecedented calamity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine intensifies and the unspeakable suffering of Orthodox believers culminates, a pan-Orthodox confrontation is imperative as soon as possible.
The Pan-Orthodox Council, as is well known, is convened by the Ecumenical Patriarch, convenes and acts, even if some local Churches are absent, as was the case with the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016.
