Holy Synod of Church of Poland deliberates on commemorating Centenary of its Autocephaly

On March 5, 2024, the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland convened under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, with the participation of all bishops.

The topics of discussion of the Holy Synod concerned external and internal affairs.

External:

1. Letters from the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Moscow regarding the situation of the entire Orthodox world were considered.
2. Scientific and theological cooperation with the theological universities of Cyprus and Greece was discussed.
3. The cooperation of the PAKP with the Conference of European Churches was discussed. The position expressed in the letter of January 2, 2024 was reaffirmed.

Internal:

1. The draft of the program for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the autocephaly of the PAKP was discussed. The program of the celebration will be announced separately.
2. The text of the message of the Holy Synod of Bishops in connection with the 100th anniversary of the autocephaly of the PAKP was approved.
3. It was decided to carry out the canonization of those martyred in the gulags.
4. It was decided to write a letter to the competent authorities regarding the preservation of the current work of the Church Fund and the teaching of religion in schools.
5. Reports on the life and activities of individual PAKP dioceses for the year 2023 were approved.
6. The report on the life and activities of PAKP monasteries was approved.
7. The report on the activity of the Fraternity of Orthodox Youth was approved, evaluating the current state of activity of the youth involved in the work of the Fraternity.
8.  The city of Warsaw was chosen as the venue for the annual meeting of the Fraternity on Orthodox Youth Day 2025.
9. The curricula of PAKP theological schools were evaluated.
10. The work of the Social Fund of the Orthodox Metropolis of Warsaw was discussed and everyone was encouraged to support the fund for pensioners.
11. Easter awards were given with special attention to the 100th anniversary of autocephaly. The list of awardees in PDF format can be downloaded here.
12. Metropolitan-wide collections for individual parishes were designated.
13. The text of the Easter message of the Holy Council of Bishops of the PAKP was approved.