Press Briefing: Monday, June 20, 2016 - Holy and Great Council (Explained)

First with a warm welcome to the people in attendance follows with quoting  the introduction and  reason for this Holy and Great Council that explains why it is happening now and in location.



'Welcome to Greece, welcome to Crete

Your Eminancies, fathers, dear media representatives.
We are already experiencing a historic moment for the Orthodox Church. The Holy and Great Council has been commenced and we will address issues relating to the Church and the society of the 21st Century.
Before we proceed, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Angela Gregorio I am the Press Officer of the Holy and Great Council.
Let me give you some of the information relating to the briefing procedure on the following days. Each one of the briefings will try to (interruption) I will speak in English and explain everything (addressing the lady in the audience that she will continue in Greek immediately afterwards and thanks her)
So each one of the briefings will try to take place at 3:30pm.
The hierarch to make the statement on behalf of the Pan-Orthodox Secretariat is His Eminence Archbishop Job of Telmesos, who is sitting on the left. He is the spokesperson of the Pan-Orthodox Secretariat of the Holy and Great Council.
So then you can ask questions...You can ask questions to the local autocephalos Churches. There are some of the spokespersons here who can  answer your questions.. '

After introduction the podium is passed over

;Dear Friends the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church has convened.
Ten out of the fourteen Orthodox autocephalos Churches that have been involved in the preparation of the Council of the last 50 years have come together to address the Church and the society of the 21st Century.
For this reason the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church is not merely a copy of the Ecumenical Councils of the past, but is an address to the human beings of the 21st Century.
The Joy of coming together as One Church has been shadowed by the absence of four Churches to which invitations have been sent once more hoping they will join the others and manifest to the contemporary work that we are One Church.
Nevertheless the absence of these four Churches are not linked with disagreements with the topics or the documents that have been discussed and prepared together, but rather they are linked with inner problems that they have been experiencing recently.
As His All- Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch has expressed in the opening address of the Council conciliarity is linked with the nature of the Church.
Throughout the centuries the Church has not stopped experiencing reconciliarity.
Today no reason justifies the postponing of the Council and the existence of inner problems within the Church makes the congregation of the Holy and Great Council even more urgent.
The autocephaly of the Orthodox Churches expresses their freedom in inner administration and pastoral care but the conciliarity of the Church is the expression of their unity in faith the sacraments and the canonical order.
This is why the Primates of the Orthodox Churches gathered here. The Holy and Great Council expressed this morning their hope that the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church will become a new institution within the Orthodox Church that will gather on a regular basis to solve the problems with the Orthodox Church and address all the challenges she is encountering in the 21st Century.
To end because it is very hot here and I do not want to bother you more but all the speeches of the Primates that have been discussed this morning will be available in the upcoming hours on the official website of the Holy and Great Council as well as the first community of the Secretariat will be put online tomorrow morning. I thank you for your attention'

The introduction follows the press briefing with questions and answers.

The video above was published on Youtube 20th June 2016

Published on 20 Jun 2016

The Holy and Great Council gathers in Crete June 19-26, 2016. For more information, visit www.holycouncil.org, the official site of the Holy and Great Council.

I will publish other videos as they appear published online


Peace be with you
Pauline Maria