Fr. Ted Bobosh
Various reports are indicating the that the Holy & Great Council of the heads of the various Orthodox Churches which is supposed to start its meeting this week, may be post-poned. Dissension has arisen and some of the heads of the churches have decided not to participate while others are calling for a postponement of the event. Though this Council was 50 years in the making, the Orthodox leadership is not prepared to meet as planned. There was a hope that even if it was avoiding most contemporary and controversial issues, it would at least be a display of the unity of the Orthodox hierarchs. There were efforts made to insure unity by allowing discussion only on topics they believed they agreed upon, and by making sure all issues were in fact agreed upon in advance. Despite those efforts, the Council has faced recently the fact that there are contentious issues which the various Orthodox hierarchs do not agree on.
I recently read some sermons from St. Basil the Great and in one he addressed the issue of an impending Council in his day which was in serious trouble before the Council began. St. Basil says:
“After all, it is impossible either to construct a building when what holds it together is missing, or to build up the church to the heights when it is not held together with the bonds of peace and love.” (ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICES, p 270)
“The present spectacle is but a remnant of the ancient love of the fathers. For its sake they inaugurated the practice of holding these festal assemblies, so that the estrangement that develops over time could be dissipated through person interaction at set intervals, and those who live far away, by gathering in this one place, could use the event to initiate relationships of friendship and love. This is a spiritual assembly that renews old relationships and provides a starting point for those to come. For we have not come to make an exchange of salable goods, but to give each other a mutual exchange of love, to give love fully and to receive love fully. Even though this is the tradition we have received, the present spectacle shows why it has come to an end. Most of those here are spies more interested in scrutinizing my statements than in being disciples of the doctrines I teach. Indeed, they attend my discourse not to be edified by being present but to ambush me with insults and abuse.” (St. Basil the Great, ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICES, p 270-271)